40 Minutes Of Thrills, 20 Minutes Of Chills

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/09/15)—For two periods Concordia looked like the defending national champion and had No.2-ranked St. Norbert locked in a game that could have been the showcase for thrilling college hockey. Unfortunately the game tumbled down upon the Cobbers in the third period and the Green Knights were able to skate away with a 6-3 win.

The game was a back-and-forth full energy tilt with Concordia holding the better of the offensive zone time for the first 40 minutes of play. St. Norbert then used their No.1-ranked power play unit to score two goals in the first 8:30 of the final frame to seize control of the contest.

Concordia wound up outshooting the Green Knights 31-26 which marks the third straight game they have held the advantage in shots on goal. CC has outshot their opponents in nine of their 14 games this season.

The Cobbers are now 6-5-3 on the year while St. Norbert improves to 11-1-2.

Concordia received two of their three goals from unlikely scoring sources. Junior Adam Wiertzema and senior Jared Maetche both scored their first goals of the year during the game.

Wiertzema gave Concordia a 1-0 lead when he received a pass just above the left faceoff circle and then let loose a hard wrist shot which sniped the lower right corner. Wiertzema's goal at 12:15 was assisted by Garrett Hendrickson and Charlie Aus and was the first of two first-period goals for CC.

The Cobbers then jumped to a commanding 2-0 lead when senior captain Andrew Deters scored shorthanded. Concordia was tagged for a roughing call at 16:04. Just after the start of the Green Knight power play, junior Tucker Coborn carried the puck over the Green Knight blue line and snapped off a low shot from the right faceoff dot. The St. Norbert goalie kicked the rebound right into the path of the onrushing Deters who buried the one-timer at 16:16. The goal was Deters' eight of the season.  

Perhaps the biggest goal of the game came in the final seconds of the first period. The Cobbers were about to take a huge momentum wave into the first break but then St. Norbert capitalized on a turnover in the CC defensive end and scored their first goal of the game with just 8-seconds left in the period. 

Concordia vs. St. Norbert Highlights - Jan. 9, 2015

Concordia was forced to continue with their torrid pace from the start of the second period. The Cobbers continued to skate with the Green Knights and hold the puck in the Green Knight for extended stretches of time.     

CC had several high quality chances to score in the first half of the middle period but couldn't bury the puck into the net. Those missed chances finally caught up with CC as St. Norbert earned the game-tying goal at 8:22.

The close calls finally turned into a goal when Maetche used a backhand spin-o-rama move on the left side of the net to score his second career goal. Maetche, one of the team's solid defenseman, found a rare opportunity to jump up into the offensive end and made the most of his chance. His goal at 12:26 was set up by Deters who earned his eight assist of the year.

St. Norbert then scored just over three minutes later to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the second break. The goal at 15:58 would be the first of four to finish off the game for the Green Knights.   

Special teams played a huge part of the national playoff-style game. St. Norbert, who is ranked first in the nation on the power play and second on the penalty kill, went 2-for-3 on man-advantage situations while holding the Cobbers scoreless in their five power play attempts.

Cobber freshman goalie Alex Reichle stopped 20 shots and was handed his third loss of the year. St. Norbert goalie Davis Jacobson made 28 saves to record his ninth win of the season.

Concordia will host another NCHA opponent on Saturday. The Cobbers will square off against Lawrence University (Wis.) at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.