5-Goal Second Stanza Sparks 8-3 Win Over St. Mary's

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/12/21)---Concordia exploded for five goals in the second period, and beat St. Mary's 8-3 to give interim head coach Dale Lund his first collegiate victory in his very first game behind the bench for the Cobbers.

The eight goals scored by Concordia is the most they've scored in a single games in six seasons. CC beat St. Mary's by a similar 8-3 score line at the end of the 2015 season.   

Sophomore Brady Tatro continued his scoring tear. He posted a pair of goals, including the third of the five in the middle frame. Tatro now has five goals in the first five games of the year and has four goals in the last three games.

With the win in the conference opener, the Cobbers are now 2-2-1 on the season. The Cardinals drop to 1-5-0.

Concordia opened the game with a pair of goals in the second half of the opening period of play. Junior Nicholas Ness scored his first goal of the year when he poked home a rebound at the 12:14 mark. Tatro then showed of his silky mitts by sliding home his first of two on the night at 16:39.

The teams then went on a scoring rampage in the second period. The Cobbers scored three of the first four goals in the frame, before the teams traded nuggets in the final 5-minutes of play.

Senior Alex Stoley fed freshman Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe on a mini-breakaway and Henkemeyer-Howe made a series of moves before sliding the puck past the SMU goalie.

St. Mary's got on the board at the 9:40, but then a breakaway goal from senior All-American Tyler Bossert and Tatro's second of the game gave CC a 5-1 lead at the 15:15 mark.

Things got crazy in the final 4:30 of the second period. The Cardinals scored 15-seconds after the Cobbers pushed the lead to 5-1. Concordia would retake a 4-goal lead when Braden Costello found the back of the net just 53-seconds after the St. Mary's counter.

The Cardinals brought the score to within three at 17:33. Tanner Breidenbach finished off the scoring barrage when his wrist shot from the right point eluded all the players in front of the goal and whistled past the screened SMU goaltender.              

The only goal of the third period came in the second minute of play. Brock Montgomery was able to get not one, but two rebounds after an initial shot from Tatro. Montgomery's spin around special at 1:16 was his first of the year and completed Tatro's 3-point night.

Cobber goalie Jackson Nelson made 21 saves to remain unbeaten on the year. He is 2-0-1 in his three starts this season.

Concordia outshot the Cardinals 45-24 in the game. The 45 shots are a season best and the most since they put up 46 in a 4-1 win over St. Olaf in the final game of the 2020 regular season.

UP NEXT: Concordia and St. Mary's will finish off their MIAC-opening series when they play on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.