Timeout And Defense Lead To Win Over #9 St. Thomas

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/06/14)—A critical timeout called by Cobber head coach Jason Gregoire led to the game-winning goal and the Concordia defense kept the No.9-ranked St. Thomas offense off the board for the final 48 minutes of the game in CC's 2-1 win over the Tommies.

Gregoire called the game-changing timeout at the back end of the second period and Amber Schaack scored 10-seconds later to give Concordia the upset win and a split in the two-game series.

The Cobbers head into the Christmas break with a 2-4-0 record in the MIAC. Concordia is 2-6-0 overall. St. Thomas loses for the first time in seven games and falls for the first time in conference play. UST is 4-1-1 in the MIAC and 5-2-1 in all games.

Concordia jumped on the board early and set the tone for the game in the first minute of play. Before the majority of the crowd was settled into their seats, sophomore defenseman Morgan Bruns had scored her first collegiate goal. Bruns' opening goal of the game came at the 1-minute mark and was assisted by Jessie Kongelf.

The teams then settled into the game-long theme of getting zone time but not being able to get the puck on the net. Both teams had several shots blocked out front and both had centering passes go through the crease area. The teams combined for only 26 shots on goal in the game. The Cobbers had seven in the first period but then only four in the final two periods of play. The Tommies had five in each of the three periods.

The two teams put up a total of 59 shots in the game. Concordia's defense blocked nine St. Thomas shots in the three periods of play. UST had 41 total shots but had only 15 on net.

The game-winning goal came after an extended period of play in the Cobber zone. Concordia was unable to get the puck out of its own zone for almost two full minutes with the CC defenders wearing down in their defensive zone coverage. A Concordia player finally iced the puck in desperation which stopped the play but forced the Cobbers to keep the same skaters on the ice.

Amber Schaack Game-Winning Goal

Gregoire sensed that his team was out of gas and immediately called timeout. This allowed Concordia to change up its five skaters. The Cobbers took advantage after the Tommies won the draw. Schaack took a chance the St. Thomas defense was to pinch to keep the puck in the zone and beat the UST defense to the puck. She then tipped it past the defense and raced untouched from her own blue line.

The Tommie goalie stayed at the top of the goal crease and Schaack fired off a snap shot from 12 feet out that found the lower right corner of the net.

Ellen Rethwisch was credited with an assist on Schaack's second goal of the season.

Concordia finished off the final 23:59 of the game by holding tight in their defensive end and forcing the Tommies to go through all five skaters from the sideboards.

The Cobbers rarely ventured into the Tommie zone in the third period but the defense, and goalie Madison Denny, made sure the one-goal advantage would hold up.

St. Thomas held a 15-11 edge in shots on goal. Kongelf and Tori Davis both had two shots each to lead Concordia.

Denny stopped 14 of the 15 shots she faced to earn her first win of the season.

Concordia will cap off the 2014 portion of its schedule by playing Bethel in a non-conference game on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. in Alexandria.

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