Offensive Understudies Step Into Spotlight In 3-2 Win

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (1/24/15)—A pair of offensive understudies helped the Cobbers post a 3-2 win at Augsburg and remain atop the MIAC standings.  

Junior defenseman Ben Gislason and sophomore forward Jeremy Johnson had two of the team's three goals as Concordia won their 10th overall game of the season. The Cobbers are 10-6-3 on the year and have now posted double-digit win totals in five consecutive seasons. CC is 5-3-2 in MIAC play which is good for 18 points and a tie for first place in the league standings. The Auggies split their third straight league series and are now 8-9-0 in all games and 5-3-0 in the conference.

Concordia learned its lesson from Friday night and, instead of digging a two-goal hole, scored the first two goals of the game in the opening period to put Augsburg up against the 8-ball.

Jordie Bancroft put the Cobbers on the board when he scored a power play goal at 10:12 of the first frame. Andrew Deters and Garrett Hendrickson earned the assists on Bancroft's team-leading 13th goal of the season.

That's when the offensive understudies took over. Gislason scored his first goal in a Cobber uniform less than five minutes later when he gave CC a two-goal lead at the 14:19 mark. Bancroft had the assist to record his fourth multiple-point game of the season.

Concordia took a 2-0 lead into the first break despite being outshot 10-8. The Cobber two-goal margin would be cut in half in the second minute of the second period. Augsburg got on the board at the 1:09 mark to grab the momentum in the game.

The Cobbers would hold off a trio of Auggie power play opportunities in the first eight minutes of the middle period. Johnson was then able to regain the two-goal cushion for CC when he slammed home the eventual game-winning goal at 16:12 of the second . The goal was Johnson's fourth of the season and first game-winning tally of the year. Tucker Coborn was credited with the assist on the play.   

The Cobber defense and freshman goalie Alex Reichle would be counted to carry Concordia for the final 25 minutes of play.

CC gave up a goal at 5:50 of the third period but then refused to let the Auggies gain the game-tying score. The Cobbers were aided by a power play chance at the 14:27 mark but then survived an Augsburg shot off the pipe in the final two minutes of play after the Auggies pulled their goalie.

Concordia was outshot 35-16 in the game. CC had only one shot in the third period as they tightened down their defensive end. Bancroft had a team-high five shots on goal.

Reichle made 33 saves in the game to pick up his fifth win of the season. He also lowered his goa ls against average to 2.73.

The Cobbers were 1-for-4 on the power play. It was the first time in four games that CC tallied a power-play goal. Concordia held Augsburg scoreless on their four power play attempts and has not allowed a man-advantage score in three straight games.

Concordia will return home to host Hamline in a two-game series on Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31.