A Pair Of Answers In Series-Opening Tie With Wis.-River Falls

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/05/21)---Concordia had an answer for Wis.-River Falls in each of the first two periods after the Falcons scored to take 1-goal leads as the two teams skated to a 2-2 overtime tie in the series opener.

The Cobbers watched as River Falls scored the first and third goals, but then rallied to score the second and fourth goals of the game. The tie gives CC a notch in each of the record columns in 2021-22. Concordia is now 1-1-1 for the season. The Falcons remain unbeaten at 2-0-1.

Both sets of goals in the first two periods of play were scored within 4:11 of one another.

River Falls got on the board first when they finished off a tic-tac-toe scoring play inside the Cobber zone at the 5:03 mark of the opening frame.

The first 1-goal lead would last exactly 2:21. Concordia would tie the game on an emotional goal for Cobber head coach Chris Howe.

Mason Plante got control of the puck on the Falcon's blue line on the right sideboards. He skated into the zone, put the puck on his forehand and then slid a pass to freshman Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe who had split the River Falls' defense pairing.

Henkemeyer-Howe settled the puck and cut towards the middle of the goal to get the UWRF goalie to slide to his right. Henkemeyer-Howe then flipped the puck past the goalie before he could recover into the middle of the net.
 
The game-tying goal was Henkemeyer-Howe's first collegiate tally and came with his Dad on the bench as the head coach.

The teams would skate to the first break tied at 1-1. The Falcons retook a 1-goal lead in the third minute of the second frame.

The lead would once again be short-lived. CC struck back 4:11 later when sophomore Brady Tatro netted his second goal of the season.

Concordia was sent to the power play at 6:03 and didn't lose possession of the puck until they scored at 6:21. After winning the draw and playing the puck around the perimeter of the defense, senior defenseman Alex Stoley fired a shot from the middle of the ice just inside the blue line. Tatro, who was standing in front of the goal, was able to get his stick on the shots and tip it past the goalie.

The teams combined for 17 shots in the third period but couldn't come up with a fifth goal of the game. The Cobbers then had to kill off a penalty in the final 1:51 of the overtime session. The Falcons had both shots in the OT with one coming on the man-advantage situation in the final two minutes of play.

Concordia outshot the Falcons 33-23 for the game. Tyler Bossert, Cole O'Connell and Henkemeyer-Howe all had four shots to lead the CC offense.

Senior goalie Jackson Nelson made 21 saves in goal for CC to keep his season unbeaten streak intact. He is now 1-0-1 on the year.

UP NEXT: The two teams will look to find a winner when they face each other in the series finale at the Moorhead Sports Center on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.