Scoreless 60 Leads To Series Split

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/18/20)--- On Friday night Concordia scored a season-high five goals and beat St. Catherine in the series opener. On Saturday the Cobber offense got stuck in the blizzard and lost 3-0 in the series finale.

The Wildcats used a pair of first-period goals and an empty-net tally to get a split in the series. Concordia outshot the Wildcats 32-19, put up 27 shots in the final 40 minutes of play but couldn't get on the board as they posted their third conference split of the season.

The loss drops Concordia's overall record to 5-10-0 on the year. CC is 3-5-0 in the MIAC and tied with St. Kate's for fifth place in the league standings. The Wildcats are now 6-8-0 in all games and a similar 3-5-0 against conference opponents.

St. Kate's turned the table on Concordia in the first period. Not wanting to be swept, the Wildcats came out with energy in the first period. They were rewarded with a shorthanded goal at the 11:19 mark. SCU doubled its lead in the final minute of the first period when they scored at 19:35.

The Wildcats outshot CC 6-5 in the first 20 minutes of play and led 2-0. The Cobbers then outshot St. Kate's 27-13 in the last two periods but couldn't get the puck past the SCU goalie who earned her first win, and shutout, of the season.

St. Kate's finished off the score line with an empty-net goal with 32-seconds left in the period after the Cobbers pulled goalie Kiana Flaig with 2:26 left in the game. Concordia kept the puck in the Wildcat end for most of the 1:54 of the empty-net session before SCU was able to put the game away.

Concordia went 0-for-3 on the power play and gave up the game-winning shorthanded goal. St. Kate's was 0-for-2 with the extra skater.

Libby Hinrichs and Grace Doerring led the Cobbers with four shots each. The four shots is a season-high for Hinrichs and a career-high for Doerring.

Flaig made 16 saves in goal for Concordia.

INSIDE STAT INFO: Concordia went 0-for-3 on the power which marks the fourth straight game they have been 0-for-3 with the player advantage. CC is 0-for-12 on the power play in the last four games. The good news for the Cobbers is that their penalty kill until hasn't given up a power play goal in that stretch either. Concordia opponents are now 0-for-18 on the power play in the last four games.

Despite their latest scoreless stretch on the power play, Concordia still leads the MIAC in power play percentage. CC is converting on 16.1% of their chances. The Cobbers are now second on the penalty kill. They have successfully killed off 61 of the 63 power play chances this season.

UP NEXT: Concordia will stay at home and host Hamline on Jan. 24-25. The Pipers, who made it to the NCAA championship game last season, are 10-3-1 in all games this year. They are 6-1-0 in the MIAC and in third place in the league standings.        

Saturday recaps sponsored by Bufffalo Wild Wings: Grab your friends and get to B-Dubs on Sunday nights for College Nights at 9 p.m. 50% off 1 food item with ID and $3 apps at the Buffalo Wild Wings located on Hwy 10 in Moorhead.