Span Of 3:13 In First Half Kills Cobbers

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/01/11)— A span of 3:13 in the first half cost Concordia a chance at their first conference win of the season. The Cobbers allowed two goals in that critical period and ended up losing to St. Mary’s 3-2 in Moorhead on Saturday.

In a strange twist of fate, the game was dictated by the two offenses despite the fact that the two teams had combined to score nine goals in their first 17 games of the 2011 season. The game seemed destined to be a 0-0 affair as both teams had only scored two goals in the previous six games combined.

The goalless draw prophecy was thrown out the window in the first eight minutes of play when both teams found holes in the defense and had decent looks at the net. The Cobbers struck first when senior Riley McGlynn was played in behind the Cardinal defense and he was able to beat the SMU goalie to the ball and slot it into the net. The goal broke a four-game goalless drought for McGlynn.

McGlynn’s goal energized the Cobbers and they tried to push for a second goal. The game changed around the 20-minute mark when St. Mary’s started to counter at the CC defense. The equalizer came in the 30^th minute when Matt Graber knocked home a serve from Bryan Neu. The score for the Cardinals broke a streak of 342 minutes without a goal. The second goal would come less than four minutes later and would give SMU the momentum heading into the second half. Alex Blancas tapped home a rebound after the initial shot had hit the post and suddenly St. Mary’s was up 2-1.

The two teams played the majority of the first part of the second half in the middle of the field with each breaking out to get an occasional break at the net. The eventual game-winning goal came at the 71:46 mark when Jacob Bina headed home a delivery from Kameron McKeeth on a dead ball from 30 yards out on the right wing. Bina’s second goal of the year put the Cobbers into attack mode and the Cardinals into a defensive shell.

Concordia would try and break through the St. Mary’s defense for a full 10 minutes before sophomore Kristian Reiersgord brought CC to within one with his first goal of the season. Reiersgord, who started the game on the Cobbers back line and was then pushed forward after the third SMU goal, found himself wide open in front of the St. Mary’s net from seven yards out. Reiersgord took a pass from the top of the box from freshman Justin Flack and redirected the ball past the Cardinal goalie. McGlynn was also credited with the assist on the play.

With the score at 3-2 and under 5:00 to play, Concordia pushed the majority of their players in order to come up with the game-tying goal but the SMU defense did not allow another chance from inside the penalty area to materialize.

St. Mary’s outshot Concordia 11-9 in total shots for the 90 minutes. The Cardinals held a 6-5 edge in shots on goal as well. CC goalie Peter Runquist and SMU keeper Chris Williams both made three saves on the day.