A Shutout, A Sweep And A Lead In The MIAC

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/17/15)—A pair of goals in each of the second and third periods led to a 4-0 win for Concordia over No.14-ranked St. John's and the first sweep of the Johnnies since 2000.

The Cobbers received goals from three freshmen and a senior in their ninth overall win of the season. First-year players Dalton Mills, Jon Grebosky and Zach Doerring all continued their outstanding play in their first collegiate seasons while Andrew Deters showed why he is the team's leading scorer.

The win is the third straight for the Cobbers. CC is now 9-5-3 on the year which is the most overall wins for any conference team. The win also moves the Cobbers into first place in the league standings.  Concordia is 4-2-2 in the MIAC and has 15 league points.

For the second straight game the two teams combined for a scoreless first period. Neither squad was able to get on the board. The Cobbers had more zone time in the latter half of the period but were unable to come away with the first goal of the game.

The course of the game changed in the second minute of the second period. Concordia came out of the first intermission with more energy and that led to the opening goal of the game.  After regaining possession of the puck in the neutral zone, the Cobbers sped into the Johnnie end where the puck eventually found Mills on the right sideboards. Mills cut hard to his left to beat the defense. As he was gliding through the crease he let the puck come off his stick and it slid through the legs of the St. John's goalie. Mills' third goal of the year was assisted by Rylan Henley and Alex Koopmeiners who both collected their first assist on the season.

While the game changed in the second minute of the period, it might have been won in the sixth minute. The Cobbers were whistled for a hooking penalty at 4:39 and instead of sitting back and being content to kill off the two-minute man-advantage situation, CC went on the attack. The Cobbers outshot SJU 3-0 in the first minute of the power play and then Grebosky took control of the puck on the right wing in the neutral zone. He sped carried the puck with speed into the St. John's defensive zone and then lifted a sick saucer pass to the back post where Deters one-timed the puck into the open side of the net. The goal at 5:56 was Deters' ninth of the year and pushed his team-leading point total to 20.

Concordia vs. St. John's Highlights - Jan. 17

St. John's (7-5-4/4-3-1) responded by holding the play in the Cobber end for most of the remaining 14 minutes of the second frame. The Johnnies pumped the CC net for 11 shots on goal but sophomore goalie Jordyn Kaufer refused to let Concordia give up a two-goal lead for a third straight game.

Kaufer made several point-blank saves and stood tall on a pair of mini breakaway attempts which could have swung the momentum in the game.

The Cobbers survived the late-period flurry, and the relief of not allowing a goal - despite the constant SJU attack – led to a big momentum swing to start the third period.

Grebosky put the game out of reach in the second minute of the third period when he scored the first of two "top shelf" goals for CC in the period. The first-year forward picked off a pass on the right wing just outside the Johnnie blue line. He then used his speed to race past the SJU defense and his sniper ability to snap the water bottle off the net with a shot that was tucked under the crossbar.

The unassisted goal was Grebosky's ninth of the year. He has now scored six points in the last three games. Grebosky finished the weekend with three goals and two assists and had a hand in five of the team's seven goals against the nationally ranked Johnnies.

The game slowed down over the course of the next 10 minutes with Concordia content to plug up the neutral zone and not allow any quality chances from in close.

Doerring closed out the score line when he roofed a short angle shot from underneath the right faceoff circle. Tucker Coborn was credited with the assist on Doerring's second tally of the season.

Kaufer finished the game by stopping all 27 shots he faced. His steady performance led to the first shutout of his career. Kaufer earned the win in both games over the weekend and has victories in four straight starts. He also lowered his goals against average to 1.98 and is now second in the MIAC in that statistical category.

Concordia outshot St. John's 34-27 and was led by Jordan Krebsbach who posted a season high six shots.

The Cobbers will take their three-game win streak on the road when they play Augsburg next weekend. The two teams will square off in a two-game series on Friday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 24 at the Ed Saugestad Rink on the Augsburg campus.