League Point Gone In A Blink Of An Eye

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/15/19)---One tenth of a second. Less time than it takes for the blink of an eye lash or how long it takes you to snap your fingers. That's how close Concordia was to sending their MIAC opener against St. Mary's into a second OT period and earning a point in the conference standings.

Concordia gave up a goal with .1 left on the clock in the first overtime session and lost 3-2 to the Cardinals in the home opener.

The Cobbers led 1-0 and 2-1 before giving up the final game-tying goal on the power play midway through the third period. St. Mary's would then win the game in the final second of the 5-on-5 OT period when they made a pass to the back side of the Concordia defense where an SMU player, standing by the far post, 1-timed the puck into the net just before the buzzer went off.  

Concordia started the scoring at the mid-point of the first period when senior Jake Ellingson connected on his first goal of the year. Matt Donnelly and Eddie Eades set up the opener as Ellingson found himself in front of the Cardinals' goal with the goalie out of position. He was able to tap the puck into the unattended net to stake CC to a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals would score at 14:49 and the teams would head into the first break tied at 1-1. Neither team would score in the second period despite putting up a combined 16 shots on goal.  

Concordia retook the lead in the sixth minute of the final period. Alex Stoley fired a shot from the point, the puck eluded several players standing in front of the SMU goal, went past the screened goalie and into the net. Keaton Leininger and Brock Montgomery were awarded the helpers on the goal at 5:45.

St. Mary's tied the game on the power play. They were given a man-advantage situation at 11:32 and then scored 5-seconds later.

Both teams had chances to score in the final minutes of regulation and into overtime. One of the Cobbers' best chances came with just over 2-minutes left in the OT. Aaron Herdt got behind the SMU defense from the top of the circles but his backhand just missed hitting the crossbar.    

St. Mary's had a slight 29-27 edge in shots on goal. The Cobbers outshot SMU 10-6 in the third period.

Eades had a team-high five shots and Stoley added four.

Junior goalie Cam Haugenoe was solid in goal the entire night and finished with 26 saves.

Concordia conceded seven power play attempts and the Cardinals were 1-for-7 on the man-advantage situations. The Cobbers were 0-for-3 on the power play.      
 
UP NEXT: Concordia will look to gain a split in the series when they host St. Mary's in the finale on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.