Seniors Deliver Playoff-Clinching Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/19/16)—Four seniors had a hand in the five Concordia goals in the Cobbers' 5-4 playoff-clinching victory over Bethel on the annual Senior Celebration Night.

Concordia put up a season-high 58 shots on goals in securing its fourth straight trip to the conference tournament. The Cobbers have now made the MIAC playoffs in four of the past five seasons.     

The win is the second straight for CC and pushes the team's record to 10-12-2 overall and 8-6-1 in league play.        

The Cobbers played the majority of the game in the Royals zone but could never put Bethel away and had to hang on in the final seconds in order to earn the one-goal win.

Concordia outshot Bethel 21-3 in the first period but the teams skated to the locker room tied at 1-1 after the first 20 minutes of play. The Cobbers found it tough to get the puck by 6-5 Bethel goalie Matt Rowe.

Freshman Jake Stilwell was the only CC player to get the puck past Rowe when he scored an even-strength goal at the 13:59 mark. Stilwell found himself all alone on the left side of the net and a pass from linemate Dalton Mills set him up for his fifth goal of the season. Jordan Christianson was credited with the other assist on the play.

Bethel tied the game with 2:41 left in the period and the teams were deadlocked at 1-1.

The Royals then took a 2-1 lead against the flow of play when they scored at 7:06 of the middle period.  Concordia continued to dominate zone time, total shots and shots on goal but couldn't crack the Rowe wall.

The Cobbers took control of the scoreboard with a pair of goals 4:25 apart at the back end of the period. Jon Grebosky slid a perfect pass to freshman Mario Bianchi who had found a seam at the top of the slot. Bianchi then one-timed a shot before Rowe could get set and the puck snuck in between Rowe's arm and body. Senior defenseman Charlie Aus started the senior point party by picking up the second assist on the game-tying goal at the 13:14 mark.

Fellow senior Adam Wiertzema would give Concordia the lead for good when he tipped in a shot from Jake Zeleznikar. Wiertzema's perfect tip at 17:39 came on the power play and was also set up by Jeremy Johnson.

The Cobbers held a 49-8 advantage in shots on goal after two periods but only led 3-2.

Senior Tucker Coborn got in on the Senior Night festivities when he followed Wiertzema's lead and tipped home a shot from the point. Coborn's second marker of the season came at 10:23 and seemingly put the game on ice for CC. The goal was an all senior affair as Wiertzema and Ben Gislason were credited with the assists.

Bethel continued to hold the two-goal margin fort and then got one back at 17:37.

Leading 4-3 with 2:23 left in regulation, the Cobbers braced for a pressure-filled finish. CC took the drama out of the final minutes when Zeleznikar scored the game-winning goal at 18:20.

The unassisted goal was the ugliest of the night. Zeleznikar fired a shot from the left point which beat Rowe but smacked off the crossbar. The puck caromed towards the right faceoff circle but unfortunately for BU the defenseman that was backchecking had the puck carom off his shin and slide into the net.

The Royals finished off the score line at the buzzer when they scored at 19:59 to make the final score 5-4.

Concordia outshot Bethel 58-18 for the game. Sophomore Zach Doerring had a career-high 14 shots on goal while Zeleznikar and junior Garrett Hendrickson had six shots each.

The Cobbers went 1-for-9 on the power play in the game. Bethel was 0-for-4 in their man-advantage situations.

Not only did the win in the series opener secure a spot in the conference playoffs but it also locked up a home game in the quarterfinals. Concordia is locked into the No.4 spot in the standings and will host the No.5 seed on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.   

THAT'S A LOT OF FLYING BACK SAUCERS
The 58 shots on goal is the most for the Cobbers since they also put up 58 shots on goal against Hamline on Jan. 31, 2003. In addition to the 58 shots on goal, Concordia recorded 108 total shots attempted. That averages out to 36 shots attempted per period. And that averages out to taking a shot attempt every 35 seconds.   

DONNY HOCKEY
Freshman goalie Donald Oldreive made his second consecutive start and made 14 saves in earning his second straight win.

BIG Z
Jake Zeleznikar has shown his calm presence all over the ice in his freshman season. His ability to handle the puck has led to a 16-point season. Zeleznikar has five goals and six assists in conference play which is tied for third best in the league in scoring among defensemen. His total is also good for fifth best in scoring by a freshman.     

SKY'S THE LIMIT
Sophomore Jon Grebosky picked up another point on Friday. He now has a team-leading 25 points on the year and has at least one point in 13 of the past 16 games in a streak that dates back to Dec. 11. Grebosky is tied for sixth in the MIAC in total points.                  

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia and Bethel will finish off the regular season when they play the second game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.