Plante Stays Hot; Start Is Not In Series Opener At Marian

FON DU LAC, Wis. (12/8/23)---Concordia stumbled out of the gate in its series opener at Marian. The Cobbers fell behind 2-0 in the first 8 minutes of the opening period, trailed 4-1 after 20 minutes of play, trailed 5-1 after 10 seconds of the second frame and lost 6-3 to the Sabres.

The Cobbers were able to outscore Marian 2-1 in the final 39:50, but the damage had been done, and the 4-goal hole was too large to climb out of.

The loss is only the third of the year for Concordia, who is now 6-3-1 in all games. The Sabres stopped their 4-game losing streak and move to 4-8-0 for the year.

The good news for the Cobbers on Friday is that junior forward Mason Plante stayed red-hot around the net. Plante scored two goals in Concordia's 6-1 win over Hamline last Saturday. He duplicated that feat by potting a pair of strikes in the opener at Marian.

He opened the scoring for CC after Marian had struck for a power play goal at 5:36 and then an even-strength marker at 7:14. Plante trimmed the lead to 2-1 with a goal at the 12-minute mark. Joe Harguindeguy also continued his torrid point streak by posting the lone assist on the goal.

The helper was Harguindeguy's fourth in the last two games and his team-leading ninth of the year.

Unfortunately for the Cobbers, the Sabres would double their goal total in a span of 43 seconds, a mere  2:26 after Plante notched his first goal of the game.

Marian took a 4-1 lead into the first break and then upped the margin to five with an even-strength goal at the 10-second mark of the middle period.

Plante would score his team-leading sixth goal of the year at 5:57, and then Marian countered with a score at 9:20 to restore the 4-goal lead.

Senior All-American Liam Haslam scored the only goal of the third period when he recorded his second goal of the year at 7:09.

Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe earned assists on Plante's second goal and Haslam's lone third-period strike. He has five goals and six assists on the season and is tied with Plante and Harguindeguy for the team lead in total points.

Caden Triggs got on the scoresheet for the sixth time this year. He was credited with the second assist on Haslam's goal.

One of the key points in the game came on the power play. Concordia went 1-for-8 with the man advantage while Marian was 1-for-1 on the power play. The Cobbers are now 3-for-25 on the power play in the last six games.  

Concordia outshot Marian 34-24 in the game. The Cobbers have lost three times this season and have outshot their opponent in all three of those games.

Freshman goalie Brock Moroz made his first college start and allowed four goals in 15:09 of play. He stopped five shots in that span. Dane Couture played the final 44:51 and stopped 13 shots.

UP NEXT: Concordia will play its last game of 2023 when it faces Marian in the series finale on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m.