Winning Formula Returns

ST. MICHAEL, Minn. (11/19/19)---It was just like old times. Aaron Herdt was filling the net, Tyler Bossert was setting them up and Jacob Stephan was making the save. Concordia used its winning formula from the 2018-19 season to beat Hamline 3-2 in a non-conference game in front of over 400 fans at the beautiful St. Michael-Albertville Ice Arena.

The win ends a 3-game losing slide for the Cobbers and brings their record to 2-5-0 on the year. Hamline drops to 1-5-1 for the season.   

Herdt and Bossert entered the game having combined five points in the Cobbers' first six games of the year after putting up a combined 67 points last year. Herdt led the team in goals last season but hadn't found the net this year and Bossert was one of the top assist men in the nation but only had two helpers heading into the midweek game against the Pipers.  

Cobber fans knew that it would only be a matter of time before the high-scoring duo got on track in 2019 and Tuesday's "home" game could be the kick start to another banner year.

Herdt scored the first of his two goals in the fifth minute of the opening period as he took a pass from Bossert and beat the Piper goalie from in close. The goal at 4:16 was Herdt's first of the season.

Hamline tied the game midway through the period on an even-strength goal at the 9:55 mark.

The biggest drama of the period came in the final second when a Concordia player was whistled for a 5-minute major penalty and a Hamline player was sent off for 2 minutes.

The second period started off as a special teams exhibition as the teams only played 2-minutes of the first 9:30 with all five skaters on the ice for each team.

The teams skated 4-on-4 for the first two minutes of the period and then Concordia was able to kill off the first 31-seconds of the 3-minute power play. The Pipers were then whistled for a penalty which sent the play back to a 4-on-4 situation and the Cobbers were able to take advantage of the open ice when Alex Stoley hammered a shot from just inside to point to post his first goal of the year. The go-ahead tally at 3:21 was assisted by Jacen Bracko who won the draw in the Piper end to start the play.

Concordia controlled most of the second period as they outshot the Pipers 12-6. That would lead to the third goal for the Cobbers just before the second intermission. Once again it was the combination f Herdt and Bossert that lit the lamp. Bossert fed Herdt and he was able to notch the eventual game-winning goal at the 19:52 mark of the second frame.

The Cobbers continued their offensive attacking play into the third period and limited Hamline's chances throughout the first 19 minutes of play. The Pipers were able to put some drama into the game when they pulled their goalie and then scored with an extra attacker at the 19:05 mark.

Concordia was able to grind out the final 55-seconds to earn the non-conference win.

The Cobbers held a 32-17 advantage in shots on goal. Senior captain Tanner Okeson led the team with six shots from his position on the blue line while Herdt finished with five shots on goal.

Stephan made 15 saves in the game to record his first win of the year. It is his 22nd career win in maroon and gold.

Neither team had success on the power play. Concordia was 0-for-4 on the man-advantage and Hamline was held scoreless in their six power play attempts.  

UP NEXT: Concordia will return to MIAC action when they play at St. John's in a 2-game series on Nov. 23-24 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The Johnnies are 2-1-2 in all games and 1-0-1 in MIAC.