Playoff Present Is Signed, Sealed And Delivered

WINONA, Minn. (2/18/23)---Make it a Perfect 10. Concordia used a pair of goals 17-seconds apart in the third period to beat St. Mary's and clinch its 10th straight MIAC playoff spot.

The Cobbers broke open a 1-1 tie when Caden Triggs and Mason Plante combined to score the game-deciding goals at 6:24 and 6:41.

The win gives Concordia the sweep in the series and is the team's seventh victory in the last 10 games.

The Cobbers enter the playoffs with a 12-11-2 overall record and a 9-6-1 mark in conference play. Concordia finishes fourth in the final league standings, and will host No.5 seed St. Olaf in the first round of the MIAC playoffs.  

While Triggs and Plante put up the goals that earned Concordia the playoff-clinching victory, it was the play of junior goalie Matt Fitzgerald that helped keep the Cobbers close throughout the whole series. Fitzgerald made several huge stops in the two games and finished the weekend by stopping 68 of thr 70 shots he faced.

Fitzgerald has now started 10 straight games for Concordia, and during that time the team is 7-2-1 and Fitzgerald has a 2.18 goals against average with a 91.8% save percentage. The last 10 games of the year took the Cobbers from the bottom of the MIAC standings to the No.4 seed for the playoffs.       

The teams skated through the first 20 minutes of play without scoring a goal. Concordia opened the scoring on an even-strength strike from Hanson O'Leary at 15:35 of the second stanza, and would hold a 1-0 lead until the sixth minute of the final frame.

St. Mary's (11-13-1, 7-9-0 MIAC) tied the game at 1-1 on a goal at 5:55 of the third period. It would be their final goal of the 2023 season as the loss knocked SMU out of playoff contention.

Triggs scored the game-winning goal at 6:24, and then Plante added the insurance marker 17-seconds later. For Triggs it was his seventh goal of the season and third in the last four games.

Plante continued his hot streak when he netted his sixth goal of the season at 6:41. Like Fitzgerald, Plante has led the charge for the Cobbers' playoff push. He leads the team in scoring in the last 10 games with five goals and six assists for 11 points.

The Cali Kid would finish off the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:26. Joe Harguindeguy tied the bow on the playoff present when he slid home his team-leading 11th goal of the year.

Concordia outshot the Cardinals 47-31 in the game. The 47 shots on goal are a season-high for CC.

Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play in the game.

UP NEXT: Concordia will now head to the postseason, and host St. Olaf in the first round of the conference playoffs on Thursday, Feb. 23. The game time has yet to be determined. The game will be a rematch of last year's first-round contest in Moorhead when the Oles came away with a 3-2 win.