Plante's Big Day Carries Cobbers To Win

ST. PAUL, Minn. (12/02/23)---It might not have been Mason Plante's birthday, but it was his Big Day.

Plante's stat stuffer special led the way for Concordia to post a 6-1 over Hamline in the series finale. The victory gives the Cobbers four of a possible six points in the two games against the Pipers.

Plante scored two goals, added an assist and recorded four shots on goal in the 5-goal victory.

Concordia scored the first five goals in the game and enjoyed a 3-0 lead after the second period. CC would score two goals at the start of the third before the teams traded goals to bring the final scoreline to 6-1.

The split in the series gave the Cobbers a 6-2-1 record in all contests and a 2-2-0 mark for five points in the MIAC. The Pipers see their record drop to 4-7-0 and 2-4-0 in the league. HU has seven points in the MIAC standings.

Plante wasted little time in putting Concordia on his back. He scored the opener midway through the first period and then netted the eventual game-winning goal at 6:05 of the third stanza. The two strikes give Plante four for the season.

Joe Harguindeguy picked up the assists on both goals and added a third helper on CC's fifth goal to give him the first 3-assist game of his career. He now has eight assists for the year, which leads CC and is tied for second most in the MIAC.  

A pair of Cobbers would record college firsts on the third Concordia goal, which came with 1:07 left in the middle period. Blaise Miller scored his first college goal and Tucker Skime posted his first college assist.

Concordia would put the game to be with a pair of goals in the first 3 minutes of the final frame. Cole O'Connell scored the back-breaking goal when the Pipers were on the power play at the 1:51 mark. Fellow former Moorhead Spud Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe made it a 5-spot to start the period when he potted his team-leading fifth goal of the year at 2:56.

Plante and Harguindeguy recorded their third point of the day on Henkemeyer-Howe's goal.

Hamline broke up the shutout bid at 4:36 of the third, and then Zach Stoner gave the Cobbers' back the 5-goal cushion when he scored at 11:25.

Jack Westlund and Hunter Bjorge were credited with the assists. It was Westlund's second helper of the game and third of the season.

Matt Fitzgerald stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced as Concordia outshot Hamline 33-20. CC held a combined advantage of 73-47 in the 2-game series.

Fitzgerald is now 4-1-1 on the season and has a 1.97 goals against average.

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off the 2023 portion of its schedule when they travel to Fon du Lac, Wis., to take on Marian in a non-conference series on Dec. 8-9.