Top 10 String Comes To An End

MOORHEAD, Minn. (01/22/22)---The good news for Concordia is that they finished off their stretch of six straight games against DIII Top 10 opponents. The bad news is that they conceded four unanswered goals to No.6-ranked Gustavus and lost 5-1 in the series finale.

The Cobbers tied the game at 1-1 in the first minute of the second period, but then the Gusties came up with three in the final 11 minutes of the middle frame and one in the third to earn the 4-goal win.

Concordia's lone goal in the game came from team-leading scorer Jerica Friese. Senior defenseman Hanna Christian fired the puck into the GAC zone and it wrapped around the back wall and ended up on the stick of Abbey Hardwick on the right side wall. The Gustavus goalie tried to stop the puck when it was played behind the goal but she fell down which left a wide net. Hardwick quickly threw the puck to the middle of the crease where Friese was waiting and tapped home the game-tying tally.

The goal was Friese's 10th of the year which is tied for second best in the MIAC. She becomes the first Cobber player to post a double-digit goal total in a season since Amanda Flemming finished with 15 in 2018. Friese now has 14 total points which is seventh most in the conference. Hardwick earned her fifth assist and now has 12 points in her freshman season.

Cobber goalie Becca Macklin was making her fourth start of the year and picked up where Kiana Flaig left off on Friday night. Macklin was solid in goal for the entire 60 minutes, controlled the initial shot all game long and finished with a career-high 44 saves. The 44 saves is the most by a CC goalie since Flaig had 45 against Wis.-Eau Claire on Dec. 13, 2019.

Concordia (6-9-0, 2-6-0 MIAC) had their only power play opportunities in the first and finished the game by going 0-for-2 with the player advantage. CC is now 1-for-15 on the power play in the last five games.

Gustavus (12-2-0, 8-0-0 MIAC) was 2-for-6 on the power play.         
  
UP NEXT: Concordia will take to the road to battle St. Scholastica on Jan. 28-29 in Duluth. The Saints are 7-5-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the MIAC.