Banner Day For Bancroft

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/13/16)—Jordie Bancroft made sure there would be no more third-period letdown as he scored two of his three goals in the final frame and helped Concordia beat St. Olaf 3-0.

The win ends a three-game losing streak and keeps Concordia in the hunt for one of the five conference playoff spots. The Cobbers are now 7-6-1 in MIAC games and have 23 league points which is good for fourth place. CC is now 9-12-2 overall.

Concordia was able to finish off the win to gain the series split by only allowing St. Olaf to get a single shot on goal in the final 20 minutes of play. The Cobbers outshot the Oles 8-1 in the third period.

The Cobbers could have stormed away from the Oles in the first period as they outshot St. Olaf 20-5 in the opening stanza. Despite the lopsided shot total the teams were still tied at 0-0 heading to the second period.

Bancroft finally got the Cobbers on the board when he scored the opening goal of the game at 5:10 of the middle frame. Garrett Hendrickson and Ben McWilliams earned the assists on the play.

Leading 1-0 heading into the final period, Concordia made sure they wouldn't give another lead away by completely locking down the Ole offense.

Concordia still led 1-0 midway through the third period before Bancroft completed his hat trick in a span of 6:52. Hendrickson once again set up his linemate for the score. Bancroft gave CC a two-goal lead at 11:48. Matt O'Dea also earned the assist on the play.

Instead of playing to just "hold on" to the lead, the Cobbers continued to attack and put the Oles on the defensive. 

The Cobbers held the majority of zone time until Bancroft finished off the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 18:40.

The game was relatively penalty free with only five combined penalties called in the three periods. Concordia was 0-for-1 on the power play while CC's defense held the Oles scoreless in their four man-advantage situations.

Concordia outshot St. Olaf 40-17 for the game. The plus-23 margin is the largest of the season for CC and most since Jan. 10 off last season when they held a plus-27 advantage against Lawrence.

Bancroft almost outshot St. Olaf by himself. He had a career-high 11 shots on goal. Hendrickson and Zach Doerring had four shots each.

Freshman goalie Donald Oldreive stopped all 17 shots he faced in the game to earn his first collegiate shutout in only his second career start.

MR. 2016
Senior Jordie Bancroft is the leader for the title of Mr. 2016 after 44 days into the calendar year. Bancroft had two goals and five points in the team's 11 games in 2015. Since the calendar went to a new last digit, Bancroft has scored 10 goals and amassed 15 points.

Bancroft's hat trick on Saturday is the second of his collegiate career. He also had three goals in the team's 5-1 win over Lawrence last season.

Bancroft has 17 points in conference play which is tied for fourth in the MIAC.  

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will look to earn its fifth MIAC playoff berth in the last six years when they host Bethel in the final two-game series of the regular season. The Cobbers will square off against the Royals on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. CC will clinch a postseason spot if they earn one league point on the weekend.