Another Friday Night Cardinal Caper

WINONA, Minn. (12/02/16)—Another Friday, another win on the road against the Cardinals.

For the second straight Friday night Concordia got goals from seniors Jordan Krebsbach and Garrett Hendrickson, solid goaltending from freshman Sam Nelson and posted a road win against a team nicknamed the Cardinals.

Last week the Cobbers edged the No.11-ranked Cardinals of Plattsburgh State 4-3 and on Friday Concordia put up three goals in the third period and beat the Cardinals of St. Mary's 5-1.

Krebsbach had two goals, including the game winner, while Hendrickson added one of the third-period tallies and Nelson made 36 saves in the Cobbers' second win in the last three games. Concordia is now 5-4-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the MIAC. St. Mary's loses for the first time in MIAC play and is now 4-1-0 in the conference and 5-3-2 overall.

Concordia never trailed in its first MIAC road game of the year. The Cobbers went out to a 1-0 lead towards the end of the first period when Jordan Christianson netted his third goal of the year on the power play at 14:25. Jeremy Johnson earned the assist on the goal.

St. Mary's would score a power play goal of their own in the first minute of the second period but then the Cobbers would rattle off four straight goals in a span of 22 minutes to record the win.

Krebsbach notched his first goal of the game at 12:04 of the second. Hendrickson and Zach Doerring were credited with the assists and both would go on to have a three-point game.

Krebsbach doubled the Cobber lead midway through the third period. Hendrickson and Doerring once again claimed the assists.

Hendrickson and Doerring would finish off the scoring with goals 54-seconds apart at the back end of the third frame. Hendrickson scored his fourth goal of the year at 13:58 and then Doerring joined him in the four-goal club at 14:52. Hendrickson recorded his third assist of the game on Doerring's nugget to complete his four-point game.   

While the Cobber offense exploded in the third period it was the play of first-year netminder Nelson that kept CC close until the three-goal third. Nelson stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the first two periods and finished with 36 saves for the game.

St. Mary's outshot Concordia 37-31 in the game. Freshman Tanner Okeson had a team-high four shots on goal for CC.

The Cobbers went 2-for-6 on the power play while the Cardinals were 1-for-6.

POWER PLAY PENSION: Concordia has now scored two power play goals in three of the last six games. The Cobbers have at least one man-advantage lamp lighter in six of the last seven games. CC is now second in the MIAC on the power play – converting on 20.9% of their chances.

ICE JORDAN: Jordan Krebsbach had only one point in the team's first six games of the year. He now has four points in the last three games. Krebsbach, who was named to the PrimeLink Shootout All-Tournament Team last weekend, has three goals and two assists for five points on the year. He already has twice as many points as he did in all of last season and is just two points shy of his career best season total which came in his sophomore season.

G-MONEY: Garrett Hendrickson had four points against the Cardinals which is a single-game career high for the senior. He also had a four-point game in his freshman season against Marian when he netted three goals and had one helper. Hendrickson now leads the team in scoring with four goals and six assists for 10 points. He is tied for ninth in the MIAC in total points.

WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF SAM: Sam Nelson has now won his last two starts in goal for the Cobbers and has stopped at least 30 shots in three of his five starts this year. Nelson has a 2.61 goals against average which is seventh in the MIAC. He is also fifth in the conference in save percentage (92.3%).

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will be looking to continue its dominance over the Cardinals when the two teams finish off their series on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. in Winona. The Cobbers swept the Cardinals last season in Moorhead and have now won four straight vs. SMU.