29th Time's A Charm

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/30/16)--- You knew it wouldn't be easy. To end a 28-game losing streak it was going to take a full 60 minutes and a total team effort.

Concordia held on for a full 60 minutes, got goals from a pair of unusual suspects and beat Gustavus 6-5 to post their first win over the Gusties since 2003. The victory ended an 0-26-2 streak and pushes the Cobbers into a tie for second place in the MIAC standings.

Concordia built up a 6-3 lead with 4:11 left in the third period but then watched Gustavus score two goals in a span of 2:24 to leave the Cobbers have to white-knuckle their way over the final 1:18 to hold off the late-game barrage.

In the end the Cobbers finished off the one-goal victory and ended the 28-game winless streak against the Gusties.

Concordia is now 10-8-1 overall and 8-4-0 in conference play. It marks the eighth straight season that CC has won at least 10 games. Gustavus has their five-game unbeaten streak come to an end and drops to 7-8-4 in all games and 6-3-3 in the MIAC.

Unlike Friday night where the Cobbers dug themselves a 3-0 hole, Concordia was able to get on top of the Gusties in the first period and then stay within striking distance until the end of the second period and start of the third.

Concordia jumped to a 1-0 lead on the first of two goals from senior Anna Westmark. Westmark whirled and fired a shot on the ice from between the circles that put CC up 1-0 at the 5:24 mark of the first period.

The Cobbers would take a 1- lead into the second period and hold the advantage until midway through the middle frame. Gustavus tied the game at 11:08 but then Westmark reclaimed the one-goal edge when she netted her second goal, and seventh of the season, at 13:42.

The Gusties would then score the next two goals to take a 3-2 lead heading into the final minute of play in the second period.

That is when the first of the unlikely scorers stepped into the spotlight. Senior defenseman Hannah Johnston scored the first of her two consecutive goals at the 19:16 mark. The goal completely changed the momentum in the game. Instead of trailing 3-2 heading into the final 20 minutes – and thinking the streak wouldn't end – Concordia given a jump in their skates as they tied the game and started the third period all even.

Johnston had scored just two goals in her entire career at Concordia before the weekend started and proceeded to outdo that total with three in two games against the Gusties.

Johnston's second goal of the game put Concordia up for good. She came off the bench on a line change and proceeded to charge the length of the ice and then put home a one-timer on the back post after a great feed from Jess Nelson.

The assist was Nelson's second of the game and gives her a team-leading 16 points.

Junior Kristin Drechsel would then give the Cobbers their first two-goal lead of the game. She scored her first goal of the season at 13:00 after Chelsey Petrich gave her the puck from behind the goal. Drechsel was standing on the left post and hit a one-time shot that was stopped by the Gustavus goalie. Drechsel then calmly lifted home the rebound.

It looked like Concordia would finally cruise to the win when Tori Davis scored an empty-net goal at 15:49. Gustavus tried to get back in the game by pulling its goalie with over four minutes left in the period but then Davis scored what would be the game-winning goal on a shot from just outside the blue line.

That set the stage for the late-game flurry from the Gusties. They would cut the lead to 6-4 at 16:18 and then added their fifth goal at 18:42 when they had pulled their goalie for the second time.

Gustavus held the puck in the Cobber end for most of the final 1:18 but couldn't get a clear chance at the goal.

The Gusties held a 29-26 advantage in shots on goal which included a 14-6 edge in the third period. Westmark and Amber Schaack led the Cobbers with four shots on goal.

Andrea Klug made 24 saves in the game to record her 10th win of the season.

Concordia vs. Gustavus Highlights

QUOTABLE
"I remember my freshman year setting goals for the season and one of them was to beat Gustavus. We have had that goal for four years and it is nice to be able to finally cross that off the list." – Cobber senior Anna Westmark on snapping the winless streak against Gustavus

POWER UP
Concordia scored a pair of power play goals on Saturday and was 2-for-3 on man-advantage situations. It was only the second time this season that CC has scored more than one power play goal in a game. The only other time came in the season opener against Wis.-Stevens Point. CC went 3-for-8 on the power play on the weekend after going 3-for-37in their previous eight games.

DOUBLE DOUBLE
The two goals scored by Anna Westmark was the third time she has scored two goals in a game. Westmark has seven goals on the year and six have come in three games.

IT IS BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE
Junior forward Jess Nelson had two assists in the game and now has 11 for the season. She has at least one assist in nine games this year and leads the MIAC in helpers.

A FOUR LETTER WORD
Both "Tori" and "goal" have four letters and both have become synonymous with one another in the past few weeks. Davis scored the game-winning goal oon Saturday and three nuggets over the weekend. She now has a team-leading 11 goals for the year. Her 11 goals is good for second in the MIAC.

RARIFIED AIR
Andrea Klug stopped 24 shots to win her 10th game of the season. She becomes only the second goalie in program history to win 10 games in a season. The only other CC netminder was Shyla Wilson who won 12 games in 2001-02 and also had 10 wins in 2000-01.

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia is on a collision course with league-leading St. Thomas. The Cobbers are one point behind the Tommies in the league standings and will play at St. Thomas in a two-game series on Friday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb. 6. Both games will be at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. The Tommies were swept by St. Ben's this weekend.