Maiah McCowan (#20) battles with a Wis.-Eau Claire player. McCowan had a team-best three shots on goal against the nationally-ranked Blugolds.
Maiah McCowan (#20) battles with a Wis.-Eau Claire player. McCowan had a team-best three shots on goal against the nationally-ranked Blugolds.

Flaig Goes Jason On #5 Blugolds

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (12/13/19)---Friday the 13th almost proved unlucky for No.5-ranked Wis.-Eau Claire. The nationally ranked Blugold had to be wondering if they were stuck inside a "Friday the 13th" movie as Cobber freshman goalie Kiana Flaig proved to be a nightmare for the Eau Claire offense.

Flaig turned aside a career-high 45 shots as she helped keep Concordia in the game until the final minutes of the third period in the Cobbers' 3-0 loss.

The loss drops Concordia's record to 4-6 on the season while the Blugolds improve to 9-2-1.

Flaig's 45 saves are the most by a Cobber goalie since the 2014 season when Madision Denny turned aside 47 shots against St. Thomas in the semifinals of MIAC tournament.

Wis. Eau Claire scored the eventual game-winning goal in the fourth minute of the first period. The opening goal of the game came at the 3:56 mark and it was the Blugold's fourth shot on goal in the game.

Flaig would then turn into a nightmare for Eau Claire as she stopped the next 42 shots she faced before the Blugolds got a power play goal at 17:25 of the third period.

Eau Claire brought the score to 3-0 when they netted an empty-net power play goal at 18:30.

Concordia had 17 shots in the game and improved on their total in each period. They finished the game by putting up eight shots on goal in the third frame.

Maiah McCowan and Libby Hinrichs led the Cobber offense. Both players had three shots on goal in the game.

The power play totals were more of a nightmare for Concordia. The Cobbers didn't score in their lone power play chance in the 60 minutes while Eau Claire was awarded nine extra-skate opportunities and scored on two occasions. The nine power play chances are the most by an opponent against the Cobbers this season and most since the third game of the 2016-17 season.

UP NEXT: The two teams will finish off the 2-game series when they match up on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. in Eau Claire. The Cobbers are 3-1-0 in games played on Saturday this season. Eau Claire is a similar 3-1-0.