4 In The 3rd = Season-Opening Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/29/21)---It took Concordia officially 48 minutes to shake off the rust from not having played more than two games in almost two full years. The Cobbers erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring four unanswered goals in the third period and beat Marian (Wis.) 4-1.

Parker Simonson and Braden Costello scored a pair of goals 1:19 apart midway through the final period, and the Cobbers added two empty net tallied to earn the 3-goal win.

It was only the third game for Concordia since the 2020 season when they hosted the MIAC championship game.     

Marian, who was picked to finish fourth in the NCHA preseason coaches' poll, opened the scoring in the final two minutes of the first period which was dominated by the goaltenders.

Cobber junior Jackson Nelson made several clutch saves on odd-man rushes, while Sabres' goalie Colby Muise stopped Jacen Bracko on a breakaway. Concordia sophomore Cole O'Connell nearly scored the first goal of the game when he broke free on a breakaway and beat Muise, only to have his shot pound off the cross bar.

The second period was also about the goalies. Concordia had more offensive zone time and Muise made the stop of the season when he denied freshman Hanson O'Leary on the doorstep. Senior All-American Tyler Bossert fired a pass across the front of the goal from the left sideboards and O'Leary hammered a 1-time shot. Muise was able to push across the goal and get his right pad on the shot as it was about to cross the goal line.

Concordia finally got on the board at the 8:44 mark of the third frame. Nicholas Ness gained control of the puck on his own blue line and then skated into the Sabres' zone. He had the puck slide off the blade of his stick where Parker Simonson pounced on the loose puck and fired a shot between a pair of Marian defensemen and trickled between the glove arm of Muise and into the net.

Costello scored his first collegiate goal just 79-seconds later which proved to be the eventual game winner. Kain Stevenson stopped the puck from getting out of the MU zone and it bounced to Brady Tatro. Tatro skated down the right sideboards and dropped the puck to Costello who was standing at the top of the right circle. Costello settled the puck and then snapped home a laser from the middle of the face-off circle that found the top right corner of the net.

Nelson made a couple of more key saves in the second half of the third period before Marian pulled Muise at the 17:54 mark.

Tatro would score the first empty net special at 18:02 and then O'Connell would add a second strike at the 19:17 mark after the Sabres pulled Muise for an extra skater at 18:24.

Bossert earned assists on both of the empty-net goals to up his career total to 52 in 55 games played.  

Nelson finished with 29 saves to record his first win in a Cobber uniform.

Marian held a slim 30-28 edge in shots on goal for the game. Both teams failed to convert on their three power play attempts.

UP NEXT: The same two teams will finish off the series on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.