Roadies

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (02/03/22)---Concordia's first four road games went about as well as Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's movie "Vacation" as the Cobbers posted an 0-3-1 record in those games. Since then, the road has been like a 2-person limo cruise. On Thursday, CC reorded a 4-1 win at St. John's to win its third straight away from Moorhead, 

The Cobbers never trailed against St. John's as they scored a pair of goals in the second period to grab a 2-0 lead and then added two empty-net strikes late in the third frame to finish off the 3-goal victory.

Concordia has now won five straight games and is 11-7-2 on the season. The win also pushes the Cobbers two games clear of the Johnnies for second place in the conference standings. CC is 8-2-1 in league play, while SJU drops to 5-3-1. St. John's is 11-6-2 in all games.

Neither team was able to get on the board in the first period despite playing on the Olympic size ice rink at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The teams combined for 16 shots in the first 20 minutes with SJU holding a 9-7 edge in shots on goal.

The game was won in a span of 6:22 in the second period. Sophomore Brady Tatro opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season. The even-strength marker at 7:01 was assisted by Tanner Breidenbach – the first of two points on the night for the senior defenseman.

Concordia got the second goal from an unlikely offensive candidate. Freshman Hunter Olson, who hadn't lit the lamp in the first 17 games of his college career, picked the perfect time to come up the game-winning goal.

Olson finished off a solid passing play from Hanson O'Leary at the 13:23 mark to give CC a 2-0 lead.

The 2-goal would last for only 3:21 when St. John's scored their only goal of the game in the final 5-minutes of the middle period.

Senior goalie Jackson Nelson would make sure that the Johnnies never came up with a tying goal. He stopped eight shots in the final 23 minutes of the game, and helped Concordia hold SJU scoreless in its two power plays in the third period.

The Cobbers added to the score line with a pair of goals in the final 98-seconds of the game. Breidenbach added the first empty-net goal at 18:22, and then the newly crowned MIAC Player of the Week – Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe – scored at the buzzer to bring the final score to 4-1. Mason Plante picked up the assist on Henkemeyer-Howe's seventh goal of the year.

The empty-net strike continues a scoring streak for Breidenbach. He has now posted at least one point in four of the last five games and has three multiple-point games during that string. Breidenbach now has five goals and six assists for 11 points on the season with seven of those points coming in the last five games.

Henkemeyer-Howe has also found his scoring touch as of late. Like Breidenbach, he has posted at least one point in four of the last five games and has six points during that streak. Henkemeyer-Howe had seven points in his first 15 games and now has a total of seven goals and six assists on the season. His 13 points is tied for fourth on the team.

Nelson has started in goal in all five of the Cobbers' games during their 5-game win streak. He stopped 27 shots on Thursday and has 318 stops for the season. In his last five games, Nelson has a 1.20 GAA and a .942 save percentage.

Concordia was 0-for-1 on the power play against the Johnnies. That ends a streak of four straight games where CC had posted at least one goal on the man-advantage situation.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have little time to savor their road win as they host the Johnnies on Friday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. The game is the second of a Cobber hockey doubleheader. The CC women's team will host St. Benedict at 5:30 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.