A Fantastic Hockey Day Minnesota Finishing Kick

WARROAD, Minn. (1/26/24)---Concordia's finishing kick proved to be too much for St. Olaf in their Hockey Day Minnesota game. The Cobbers scored three goals in the final 4:03 of the third period to erase a 2-1 and bounce the Oles 4-2.

The game, which was played outdoors in Warroad as part of the annual Hockey Day Minnesota celebration, was played in 27-degree weather and had to be stopped several times to have the snow shoveled off the surface.

The victory gives Concordia a sweep in the series with the Oles and moves CC to 16 points in the MIAC standings. That total is good for fifth place in the race for the 5-team conference tournament. The Cobbers are now 5-4-1 in league play and 10-7-2 overall. It marks the 13th consecutive season that Concordia has posted a double-digit overall win total.

St. Olaf (8-10-3, 4-6-2 MIAC) looked like they were going to run away with the series finale. They netted two goals in the first 11 minutes of the opening period to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The second period was more of an end-to-end race with neither team having any quality chances around the net. That all changed when the Cobbers were able to take advantage of a turnover in the St. Olaf end and get the puck to the front of the net where Hanson O'Leary chipped a shot into the top left corner of the net.

Concordia's opening goal of the game came at 17:11 of the second period and gave CC new life in the contest. Hunter Olson and Cole O'Connell did the dirty work along the boards and were credited with the assists.

The game stayed at 2-1 in favor of the Oles until the final 5 minutes of play. CC was given a chance to tie the game when St. Olaf was whistled for a holding call at the 14:05 mark. The Cobbers cashed in on the power play chance when Bauer Barry threw the puck on the net and Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe was able to tap it into the goal after the puck had been blocked by a group of players in front of the goal.

Henkemeyer-Howe's team-leading 10th goal of the year came at 15:57, with Barry and Mason Plante earning the helpers. The 10 goals is a season career high for Henkemyer-Howe.

For Plante, it was his 12th assist of the year which is tops on CC. He now has a team-leading 20 points – the first 20-point campaign of his college career.

The rest of the game was all Olson's, as he scored the game-winning goal at 16:58, and then notched the insurance marker at 18:29. Both goals were of the even-strength variety with Hunter Bjorge and Zach Stoner getting the assists on the first goal and Caden Triggs setting Olson free on a breakaway for the second strike. It's the first time in his career that Olson has lit the lamp twice in a game.

Concordia outshot the Oles 24-17 in the game. CC netminder Matt Fitzgerald made several key saves in the second period to keep the Cobbers close and finished with 15 stops. He is now 7-4-2 on the year.
The Cobbers were 1-for-3 on the power play and have now scored at least one power play goal in four of their last five games.                          

Up Next: Concordia will return to indoor hockey next weekend when they host Augsburg on Feb. 2-3.