Playoff Finish Line Is In Sight

WINONA, Minn. (2/17/23)---The first half of Mission Playoff is complete – and it was a huge success. Concordia scored four goals in the second period in in its series opener at St. Mary's and rolled to a 7-1 win.

The victory puts the Cobbers in the drivers' seat for one of the two remaining spots in the upcoming MIAC playoffs. CC now has 23 conference points which puts them in sole possession of fourth place with one game remaining in the regular season. If Concordia wins Game 2 in regulation, overtime or a shootout, they will clinch the No.4 seed for the MIAC tournament. Any other outcome and the Cobbers could place anywhere from fourth to sixth place and be out of the playoff picture.

The series opener couldn't have started any better for the Cobbers who put up two goals on the board in the first 9-minutes of play.

Mason Plante opened the 7-goal barrage when he netted the first of his two goals on the night at the 3:38 mark. Cole Lehmann and Liam Haslam had the assists on Plante's fourth strike of the year.

Haslam would double the lead with a power play goal at 8:20. Ben Luedtke and Bauer Barry had the helpers.

Concordia (11-11-2, 8-6-1 MIAC) started the second period in identical fashion to the first. They poached an early-period goal, and then added a second in the ninth minute of play.

Hanson O'Leary doubled the power-play goal total when he pushed the lead to 3-0 just 107-seconds into the middle frame. Luedtke and Barry repeated their assist line on O'Leary's seventh goal of the year.

Braden Costello made it four straight to start the game for CC when he netted his third goal of the season at 8:41. Linemates Troy Dahleheimer and Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe were credited with the assists on the play.

St. Mary's (11-12-1, 7-8-0 MIAC) scored its only goal of the game midway through the period, and then Joe Harguindeguy and Plante put the game out of reach with goals 2:30 apart at the back end of the period. Plante earned the assist on Harguindeguy's nugget which gave him his first 3-point game of the year.

Junior defenseman Garrett Sandberg finished off the score sheet when he put up the only goal of the third period. Sandberg scored at 11:26 to record his second goal in the last three games.

Junior Matt Fitzgerald played another steady game in goal for CC. He stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced to post his seventh win of the year.

Concordia was 2-for-3 on the power play in the game, while the CC penalty kill allowed only one PP goal in the six chances for SMU.            

UP NEXT: Concordia will try to clinch its 10th straight playoff appearance when they face St. Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. at the SMU Ice Arena.