Junior goalie Andrea Klug made 30 saves to record her fourth straight shutout and help Concordia beat St. Catherine 3-0.
Junior goalie Andrea Klug made 30 saves to record her fourth straight shutout and help Concordia beat St. Catherine 3-0.

Back-To-Back-To-Back-To-Back

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/21/15)—A beach ball. That's what the puck looks like to Concordia junior goalie Andrea Klug. Klug stopped all 30 shots she faced to post her ever-improving program-record fourth consecutive shutout.

Klug's netminding heroics, and three goals in the final 20:31 of play, helped the Cobbers blank St. Catherine 3-0.

Klug has now run her consecutive shutout streak to 250:03. The last time she was scored upon came at the 9:57 mark of the season opener against nationally ranked Wis.-Stevens Point. Since that time she has turned aside 100 straight shots. The 30 she faced in the series finale against St. Catherine is the most in a single game during her shutout streak.

Klug has now dropped her season goals against average to 1.00. That mark is second in the MIAC and 14th in all of Division III. Her four shutouts on the year are second most in the nation.     

The win is the fourth straight for Concordia to open conference play. It is the first time since 2002-03 that CC has started the year with four consecutive victories against MIAC opponents.    

While Friday's 1-0 win was a game in which the defense did the majority of the work, and the offense was able to put up 40 shots on net – Saturday's victory was mostly about Klug and the offense breaking loose at the end of the second period.

The two wins against the Wildcats featured similar scoring lines through two periods of play. The teams couldn't beat ether goalie until the final Concordia Friday night's lone goal came at the 18:46 mark. The story was the same on Saturday until the game winner was scored at the 18:28 mark of the middle frame.

Junior Amber Schaack netted the game-winning goal when she got the puck on the right side of the goal and flipped it past the SCU goalie. It was Schaack's second goal of the year.

It looked like Schaack's tally would be the only goal of the game until CC burst loose for two goals in the final 11 minutes of the final period.

Kayla Nack scored her first collegiate goal when she picked off the puck inside the left face-off circle inside the Wildcat zone. She then drove toward the near post and snapped a shot over the right shoulder of the SCU goalie and just under the crossbar. Her deft touch gave the Cobbers breathing room for the final half of the period.

Ellen Rethwisch finished off the scoring when she recorded her second goal of the weekend at the 18:59 mark. Kristin Drechsel tapped the puck into the center of the ice where Rethwisch skated on to the loose puck and beat the Wildcat goalie through the "5-hole" on a mini breakaway.

It was Rethwisch's fourth goal of the year and she now has five points for the season.

The only thing story line left to be finished was whether Klug would continue her shutout streak. The Wildcats had several goalmouth scramble opportunities but each time Klug made the stop. St. Catherine's best chance came off a tip-in attempt. The puck was centered from the left wing to a Wildcat attacker in the middle of the crease. She tipped the puck towards the far corner of the goal but Klug kicked out her left leg and made a pad save to preserve the blanking.   

St. Catherine outshot the Cobbers 30-25 for the game. Schaack had a team-high six shots on goal and now has 37 shots for the year which leads the team and is tops in the MIAC.                

Neither team had success on the power play. Concordia was 0-for-2 on the PP while the Wildcats were held scoreless in their six attempts including a 5-on-3 situation for over a minute in the third period.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will step outside conference play next weekend when they try and extend Klug's shutout streak. The Cobbers will host Marian (Wis.) on Saturday, November 28 at 7 p.m. and then again on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 2 p.m. Both games will be held at the Moorhead Sports Center.    

Concordia vs. St. Catherine Video Highlights