Field Goal And Safety Lead To Series Sweep

ST. PETER, Minn. (01/22/22)---Concordia scored the first three goals of their series finale at Gustavus and went on to beat the Gusties 5-1.

The 4-goal victory gave the Cobbers their second conference series sweep of the season. CC took two from St. Mary's in the beginning of November. It is also the first sweep for Concordia at Gustavus since the 1999-2000 season. 

The win also helps Concordia jump into a tie for second place in the MIAC standings. The Cobbers are now 5-2-1 in the league and 8-7-2 overall.

The first period was kind to the Cobbers for the second straight game. CC scored two goals in a span of 2:50 in the period to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Concordia outscored the Gusties 8-0 in the first period in the two games of the series, and have now outscored their opponents 26-11 in the first period of games.

Parker Simonson proved to be the offensive star of the game for Concordia. He scored a pair of goals - including the first goal of the contest at 12:01 of the first frame.

Tyler Bossert and Cole O'Connell set the table for senior defenseman Tanner Breidenbach who doubled the CC lead at 14:51.

Simonson would then complete the trio of goals to start the game for the Cobbers when he added his second at 12:43 of the middle stanza. Keaton Leininger was credited with the assist on Simonson's fourth goal of the year. It was Leininger's second assist as helped create Simonson's first goal.

Concordia would hold a 3-0 lead heading into the third period before Gustavus got a power play goal at 7:15 of the final frame.

Cole O'Connell reclaimed the 3-goal lead for CC when he scored his ninth goal of the season on the power play at 10:23. Bossert and Alex Stoley got the helpers on the tally. For Bossert, it was his MIAC-leading 19th assist of the season.  Bossert now has 25 points for the year which is also tops in the conference. His two assists also push his career point total to 92. He needs eight points to become the first CC player to reach the 100-point plateau since 1998 when Greg Salvevold finished with 123 points.

Nicholas Ness would finish off the scoring for the weekend when he netted his second goal of the series at 18:27. Boe Bjorge and Jacen Bracko were credited with the assists on Ness' third goal of the year.

Concordia outshot the Gusties 24-21 in the game. Breidenbach, Simonson and Brock Montgomery all had a team-best three shots on frame.

Senior goalie Jackson Nelson made 20 saves to pick up his second win of the weekend. He is now 6-3-2 on the year.

UP NEXT: Concordia will host its first conference home games of 2022 next weekend when they face St. Scholastica on Jan. 28-29. The Saints are 6-6-2 overall and 3-4-1 in the MIAC.