Quick Start, Sluggish Finish In Openers

SUPERIOR, Wis. (9/03/17)--- The weekend started with a bang but finished with a thud as Concordia dropped a pair of games in the opening weekend of the year.

The Cobbers scored two goals in the first 14 minutes of the opener against St. Scholastica on Friday and then finished the three days in Duluth and Superior by allowing five goals in the second half against Wis.-Superior on Sunday.

Unfortunately the two-spot scored in the opening minutes against the Saints wouldn't hold up as St. Scholastica got on the board in the 33rd minute of play and then added the game-tying goal midway through the second half before claiming the winner at the 82:30 mark to earn the 3-2 win.

Concordia's offense started quickly and created many chances in the first half of play. The Cobbers would finish with 10 total shots in the game and five shots on goal. St. Scholastica countered with 12 shots in each of the two halves and had a total of 16 shots on goal.

Junior Pierre Freitas-Elysee staked the Cobbers to an early 1-0 lead when he was played in behind the Saints' defense with a delicately timed through ball from Justin Froslie. Freitas-Elsee's strike finished off a 10-pass sequence which went through Austin Peterson before being dealt back to Froslie and through towards Freitas-Elysee.

Freitas-Elysee would set up the second goal as he dribbled the ball down the left wing and looked to beat the defender into space. He then cut into the middle of the field and the ball was knocked across the top of the CSS penalty area where sophomore Sam Gess finessed a one-timer over the goalie and into the top right corner of the net.

Cobber freshman goalie Jackson Carr made several outstanding saves in the first half before St. Scholastica could get on the board. Playing in his first collegiate contest, Carr came out on a breakaway from the right wing and went down to stop the ball which was headed for the bottom left corner. He then went high into the top left corner to stop a deadball shot from 25 yards out.

Carr finished with 12 saves in the game.

Gess led the Cobbers with three total shots and two strikes on net. CC had five other players with one shot on frame.

Sunday would be a day to forget for Concordia. Superior set the tone with two goals in the first 13 minutes. The teams would settle into a back-and-forth affair for the final 32 minutes of the opening period. The Yellowjackets had four shots in the first half as compared to three for CC.

The second half, well that was a different story. The game remained a two-goal spread until the 64th minute when Superior started their second-half scoring spree. They would score five goals in a 23-minute span to close out the 7-0 decision.

Aronah Mukhtar led the Cobbers on Sunday with a pair of shots.

A YEAR IN THE MAKING: Pierre Freitas-Elysee took out a year's worth of frustrations by scoring just 6:28 into his first college game for CC. Freitas-Elysee sat out all of last season with a lower leg injury and was starting his first game for the Cobbers.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will return home to host the Cobber Invite next weekend. CC will square off against Buena Vista on Friday, Sept. 8 at 5:00 and then host Minn.-Morris on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 2:30. The Beavers are 1-1 after splitting a pair of games on the opening weekend while the Cougars are 0-2 after dropping a pair of games to MIAC opponents Carleton and Augsburg.