Slow Start, Slower Finish Stop Cobbers

ST. PETER, Minn. (1/29/16)—A slow start and a slower finish cost Concordia at Gustavus on Friday. The Cobbers scored three goals in the second period but were outscored 3-0 in the first and third periods and dropped a 6-3 decision in St. Peter.

Concordia trailed 4-3 heading into the third period but then had the Gusties score two goals in the first 7:03 of the frame to cement the victory in the opening game of the series.

The Cobbers drop their third straight game on a Friday and are now 7-9-2 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play. CC remains in fourth place in the league standings with 14 points. Gustavus wins for the first time in 2016 and the first time in eight games. GAC is now 4-10-4 and 3-4-2 in the MIAC.    

Neither team was able to score for the majority of the first period and then the Gusties broke to the lead with a goal at 16:01.

The second period proved to be the exact opposite of the opening period as goals were put up in bunches.  Gustavus doubled their lead just 16-seconds into the period before Jeremy Johnson got Concordia in the game with his first goal of the season at the 1:53 mark.  Tucker Coborn picked up the assist on the play.

Gustavus pulled away with two goals in a span of 1:15 starting at the 5:34 mark but then the Cobbers called the Gusties' two-goal marker with a pair of goals in 2:42 midway through the period.

Mario Bianchi scored at 10:12 with assists from Zach Doerring and Jon Grebosky. Jordie Bancroft then pulled CC within a goal when he netted his seventh goal of the year at 12:54.

Unfortunately for Concordia that would be all the scoring in the game. The Cobbers were only able to get four shots on goal in the third period and gave up a goal at 2:25 and then another at 7:03 to fall behind by the final score of 6-3.

Concordia was outshot 38-23 for the three periods. Bianchi and Bancroft had three shots each to lead the Cobbers.

Alex Reichle made 32 saves in goal for the Cobbers.

PENALTY FREE ZONE
Concordia wasn't whistled for a penalty in the entire game. Gustavus only had two penalties in a game that featured only four total penalty minutes. Those totals mark the fewest in a game since before the 1998-99 season.

MARIO – LIKE LEMIEUX
Freshman Mario Bianchi scored his eighth goal of the season and sixth in the past nine games. He is now second on the team in goals scored and second in the MIAC in goals scored by a freshman.     
MR. 2016
Jordie Bancroft had just two goals in the team's 11 games in 2015 but has scored five in the seven games in 2016. He now has three goals in the last two games and upped his season total to seven. Bancroft has also jumped into a four-way tie for fourth place on the team in scoring with 12 points. Bancroft now has 43 goals and 87 points in his career at Concordia.  

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will look for the split in the series when they play at Gustavus on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cobbers are 4-2-2 in Saturday games while the Gusties are 2-3-3 in games played on a Saturday,