Momentum Swing In 2:30 Costs Cobbers

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/01/12)—Concordia gave up a pair of goals in a span of 2:30 at the end of the second period and lost 3-1 to St. Thomas on Saturday. The Cobbers had control of the game, and led 1-0, before the Tommies swung the contest in their favor with the back-to-back scores.

The loss forces Concordia to settle for the split in the two-game series. The Cobbers beat St. Thomas 1-0 on Friday. CC is now 4-3-3 in all games and 3-2-1 in the MIAC. The Tommies win for the first time in four games and even both their overall and conference marks at 4-4-0 and 3-3-0.

Concordia held the majority of the play in the first period and through the first 14 minutes of the second frame. The Cobbers doubled up the Tommies in shots during that stretch, holding a 25-13 edge in shots on goal and a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard. CC scored the game's first goal late in the opening period when Abby Taffe slammed home a pass from Bekah Wright. Taffe's goal at 19:05 was her team-leading fourth of the season.

St. Thomas scored their first goal of the two-game series on the power play after the Cobbers were whistled for an elbowing infraction at 14:42. The Tommies tied the game on a goalmouth scramble with just 22-seconds left on the man-advantage situation. UST would then score the game-winning goal while CC was still trying to regroup from the first score. St. Thomas' second goal of the game came at the 18:50 mark and gave the Tommies the momentum heading into the third period.

Concordia would have a few chances early in the third period but then struggled to get through the neutral zone in the second half of the third period. UST capped off the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:16 of the third period.

The Cobbers outshot the Tommies 37-26 for the game and by a combined margin of 76-52 for the two-game series. The shortcoming for Concordia was their inability to score given quality chances. CC has now scored just three goals in the last four games.

Concordia was 0-for-2 on the power play and has not scored a power play goal in their last six chances which covers a span of four games. St. Thomas scored one goal in their three power play chances for the game.

Madison Denny made 23 saves in goal for the Cobbers. Alise Reidel stopped 36 shots to earn her fourth win of the season.

Concordia will have a four-week break for the Christmas holiday and will return to action on Dec. 31 when they play Bowdoin College at the Eden Prairie Community Center at 1 p.m.