First Four Minute Flounder

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/05/14)—Concordia gave up a goal in the first four minutes of each period and fell 4-2 to No.9-ranked St. Thomas.

The Cobbers were forced to chase the game for the entire 60 minutes after giving up goals at the 2:49 mark of the opening period, at 3:40 of the middle frame and then at 3:11 of the final period.

The loss drops Concordia to 1-6-0 on the season. CC is now 1-4-0 in MIAC play. The pre-Christmas struggles continue a theme from the last two seasons. The Cobbers now have a combined 6-16-3 record before the Christmas in the past two-plus seasons. Concordia owns a 21-8-3 mark after the Christmas break in the past two seasons.

The Tommies win for the third straight game and remain unbeaten since losing the season opener at No.7-ranked Wis.-River Falls. UST is now 5-1-1 in all games and 4-0-1 in the conference.

Concordia showed signs of the two-week holiday break as they struggled to break the puck out of their own zone and St. Thomas was able to take advantage. The Tommies kept the puck in the CC zone and scored the opening goal of the game just 2:49 into the first period.

The Cobbers were able to get attacks into the Tommie end once the ouck went into the neutral zone and they were able to tie the game at 1-1 when Kristin Drechsel wristed home a shot from between the face-off circles with 2:55 left in the opening frame. The goal was Dreschel's first of the season and was assisted by Jess Nelson and Tori Davis.

The teams went into the first intermission tied at 1-1 but then the Tommie quick-strike offense reclaimed the lead at the 3:40 mark of the second period. Unlike the first period, CC wasn't able to counter with the game-tying goal. St. Thomas then pushed the lead to 3-1 at the start of the final frame. UST scored at 3:11 to push the lead to 3-1.

Concordia finally got their breakout game working in the third period and played even with the nationally ranked Tommies. The Cobbers were outshot 24-5 in the first two periods but then held an 8-7 edge in shots in the final 20 minutes of play.

CC made it interesting in the final two minutes of play. Senior captain Bekah Wright brought the Cobbers to within one goal when she scored the team's second goal after the Cobbers pulled the goalie at the 17:35 mark. Cassey Petrich and Kelsey Vandegrift were awarded the assists on Wright's team-leading third goal of the year.

Concordia nearly tied the game in the final minute of regulation. CC had control in the UST zone and threw the puck towards the net from the sideboards. The Tommie goalie tried to cover the puck but it slid out the other side where Wright tried to knock the puck into the net but it was just out of reach.

St. Thomas then finished off the scoring by coming up with an empty-net goal with only four seconds remaining on the clock.

The Tommies finished the game with a 31-13 edge in shots. The Cobbers were 1-for-5 on the power play while St. Thomas was 0-for-2.

Cobber goalie Andrea Klug made 27 saves and Tommie netminder Paige Kittleson came away with 11 saves.

The two teams will finish off the two-game series on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.