Resilient And Experienced Cobbers Post Historic Win

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (11/28/14)—Concordia showed off a brand new sense of resiliency and experience as they beat host Middlebury (Vt.) in the semifinal game of the prestigious Primelink Great Northern Shootout tournament.   

The Cobbers jumped to a 3-0 lead, watched as six-time NCAA champion Middlebury tied the game midway through the second period but didn't completely collapse and responded with the game-winning goal midway through the second period.

Concordia becomes the first team from the West to win a game at the 17th annual Primelink tournament. They will now advance to play No.2-ranked Norwich in the championship game of the shootout on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.  (cst).

The win over one of the most tradition-rich opponents in program history pushes Concordia's record to 5-3-1 on the season. CC has lost only once in its past six games.

Concordia vs. Middlebury Video Highlights
(courtesy of WCAX-TV) 

The Cobbers got the perfect start to their first trip to Vermont in program history. CC scored in the second minute of the first period when Jordie Bancroft fought off a back-checker in front of the Panther goal and one-timed a shot from the centering pass of Andrew Deters past the Middlebury goalie. The goal just 76-seconds into the game was Bancroft's team-leading seventh of the season.  

Concordia would double their lead in the final three minutes of the opening frame on the first of two-goals from Jon Grebosky. Grebosky's fifth goal of the year was assisted by junior defenseman Charlie Aus.

Grebosky would give the Cobbers a commanding 3-0 lead in the first minute of the second period. He finished off a sequence from Bancroft and fellow freshman Zach Doerring and his tally at the 53-second mark forced the Panthers to take a timeout to try and regroup.

The timeout paid off in a big way as Middlebury started to find its groove and dictate the pace of the play. They would eventually tie the game with three goals in a span of eight minutes. The first of the trio of goals came at the 2:10 mark and the game-tying goal came at 10:11.

This is when Cobber teams of the past would close up shop and struggle for the remainder of the game. The "new look" experienced CC team took the three goals in stride and let their offense get them back the lead. Concordia would only have to wait 1:27 before retaking the lead when Ben McWilliams threaded the needle on an 80-foot pass that freed Tucker Coborn behind the Middlebury defense. Coborn wasn't able to completely break free for a clean breakaway and tried to go behind his back with a pass to a teammate who jumped up to join the quick-strike attempt on the left side. Coborn's pass ricocheted off a Panther defender and went through the legs of the Middlebury to stake CC to a 4-3 lead.

Coborn was credited with his first goal of the season and McWilliams earned his first assist on the season in what could go down as the best pass of the entire year.

From that point forward it was left up to the Concordia defense and freshman goalie Alex Reichle. The Cobbers would be outshot 31-17 in the final two periods of play but CC's defense made sure most of those attempts came from the outside near the sideboards.

Reichle stopped all 16 shots he faced in the third period and made 36 saves total in earning his fourth win of the season. Reichle has now won four of the five games he has started.

Concordia had 25 shots for the three periods and was outshot for the first time in seven games. Bancroft had a team-high five shots in the game and now leads the Cobbers with 41 on the season.

Concordia will now square off against No.2-ranked Norwich in the title game of the PrimeLink tournament on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.  The Cadets are 7-0-0 on the season and pasted No.3-ranked Plattsburgh St. 5-1 in the other semifinal on Friday. Norwich, which won the NCAA National Championship in 2010 and has won three national championships in program history, has claimed two of the past three PrimeLink Shootout titles.