Déjà vu All Over Again

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (2/12/16)—Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the third period, Concordia got jumped by the shark for the second straight Friday and lost 6-3 at St. Olaf.

For the second straight Friday night the Cobbers held a 3-0 lead in the third period and then watched as their opponent roared back to score a handful of unanswered goals to take the game and get the win. Last week CC led St. Thomas 3-0 and lost 5-3 and then on Friday Concordia led 3-0 and lost 6-3.

The defeat keeps the Cobbers in fourth place in the MIAC standings. Concordia has now lost three straight and is 8-12-1 overall and 6-6-1 in league play. St. Olaf improves to 6-11-5 in all games and 4-5-4 in the MIAC.

Concordia held massive amounts of zone time in the first two periods as they outshot St. Olaf 26-10 and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Cobbers held an 11-5 edge in shots in the opening 20 minutes and then did that four better by outshooting the Oles 15-5 in the second period.

Adam Wiertzema collected his fourth goal of the season at 6:36 of the first frame to give Concordia a 1-0 lead. Jake Zeleznikar and Tucker Coborn were credited with the assists on the play. It was the eighth helper of the year for both Zeleznikar and Coborn.

Concordia was held to a single goal in the first period but then got two in the second only 1:30 apart.

Freshman Matt O'Dea was set up by Charlie Aus at the 13:01 mark and gave CC a 2-0 lead. It was O'Dea's fourth goal of the year and first since Dec. 5. Aus earned his 12th assist of the season on the play.

Mario Bianchi staked the Cobbers when he netted his 10th goal of the year at 14:31. Jon Grebosky was credited with the assist and it looked like the Cobbers would run away and hide in the final minutes of the middle frame.

Like the previous week, the game turned in favor of the opposition when they scored a pair of goals in less than a minute. The Oles started the comeback with a goal at 3:00 of the final period.

It looked like CC was going to be able to weather the storm as they still held a 3-1 lead with eight minutes left to play.

That's when lightning struck twice in the same spot. St. Olaf scored at 12:22 and then tied the game with their third goal of the period at 12:59.

They netted the game winner at 14:44 on a penalty shot when a Cobber player took down an Ole attacker on a breakaway.

The Oles then tacked on a fifth goal at 16:55 and an empty-net score at 18:48.

Concordia wound up outshooting the Oles 32-23 for the game. O'Dea and Zach Doerring had a game-high four shots on goal each.

Cobber goalie Alex Reichle made 17 saves in the three periods.

FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Freshman Mario Bianchi now has 10 goals on the year. He has scored a single goal in 10 different games this season and has a goal in eight of the past 13 games.  Bianchi's 10 goals are tops in the MIAC among first-year players.   

JONNY BE GOOD
Sophomore Jon Grebosky continued his scoring streak on Friday. He now has at least one point in five straight games and eight of the past nine games. Grebosky leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points. He had 20 points last season as a freshman. Grebosky is currently tied for sixth in the MIAC in both total points and assists.

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will try and end their three-game slide when they take on St. Olaf on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Northfield Arena.