Late Penalty Kill Propels Series Split

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/18/17)---The score sheet will read that Concordia beat Bethel 2-1 in the series finale but there should be an asterisk added to give credit to the Cobber penalty kill unit who were successful in killing off a full 2-minute 5-on-3 power play late in the third period.

Concordia got goals in the second and third periods to earn their first conference win of the season. The Cobbers got the game-tying goal 8-minutes into the third period and then used their penalty-kill skills and the stout goaltending of Jacob Stephan to come away with their third win of the year.

Concordia is now 3-2-2 in all games and 1-1-0 in the MIAC.

The teams skated through a scoreless first period with the Cobbers holding a 12-8 edge in shots on goal. CC had the better of the play but Bethel had the best chance. The Royals intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and went down on a 2-on-0 but a final pass just missed the BU attacker on the back post and the Cobbers avoided giving up the first goal of the game.

It was a turnover in the neutral zone that set up the actual first goal of the game. Dalton Mills pounced on a puck in the middle of the ice, broke down the left wing and cut across the ice to the right side of the goal before backhanding the puck just under the crossbar.

Jake Stilwell was credited with the assist on Mills' tally at the 16:25 mark.

Concordia's 1-0 lead would last only 75 seconds before Bethel tied the game at 1-1.

The Cobbers once again held the majority of offensive zone time but couldn't get another shot past the Bethel goalie.

The game-winning goal finally came at 8:25 of the third period. Jon Grebosky drove the puck deep into the Bethel defensive end on the left side of the ice. He then slid the puck to a trailing Zach Doerring who collected the puck between the faceoff circles and fired a low shot which beat the goalie to the lower left corner.

The game was changed just past the midway point of the period.  A Cobber player was sent to the box with a major penalty for interference after what seemingly was a clean hit on a Bethel attacker.

Concordia killed off the first three minutes of the major infraction but then was faced with another penalty on a roughing call behind the net. The CC penalty kill unit was aggressive in killing off the 2-man advantage and was able to clear the puck out of the zone several times during the two minutes.

The Cobbers outshot Bethel 42-23 for the game and 86-51 for the weekend.

Grebosky had a game-high eight shots on goal while Doerring and Bryan Kronberger had four shots each.

Stephan stopped 22 shots to earn his second win of the season.

THE UNBEATEN: Cobber sophomore goaltender Jacob Stephan remained unbeaten this season. Stephan has started four games this year and is 2-0-2 in those games. He leads CC with a 1.68 goals against average. He is third in the MIAC in GAA and fifth in save percentage (92.7%).

THE BIG ZACH ATTACK: Zach Doerring recorded his team-leading third goal of the season on Saturday. He is also tied for the team lead in points with six. Doerring has collected at least one point in six of the team's seven games this year.

SHOTS ARE FIRED: Jon Grebosky had a season-high eight shots on goal on Saturday and has now put up at least six shots in three straight games. Grebosky has 31 shots on goal this season which leads the team and is second in the MIAC.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will have a two-week break for the Thanksgiving holiday and then return to action on Dec. 1 when they play at St. Olaf in the first of a two-game series.   

CONCORDIA vs. BETHEL HIGHLIGHTS: