A Second Half To Build On

WINONA, Minn. (10/28/17)---Concordia erased a 1-0 deficit at the intermission, scored two goals in the second half and beat St. Mary's 2-1 in the season finale for both teams.

The game was a tale of two halves for the Cobbers as they failed to put up a shot in the first half of play and then outshot the Cardinals 10-0 in the second half to claim their second win in the last four games.

The victory pushes the Cobbers to a final overall record of 5-10-2. CC winds up with a 2-6-2 record in conference play. St. Mary's ends the year with an 8-9-1 mark in all contests and a 2-7-1 record in the MIAC.

Concordia struggled in the first half and didn't have a shot. The Cobbers were even staked to an extra man after one of the Cardinals was given a straight red card in the 39th minute of play. Despite having the man advantage, the Cobbers were outshot 5-0 in the first 45 minutes of play.

The Cardinals led 1-0 at the break after netting the opening goal of the game at the 19:35 mark.

Concordia started to get on track offensively five minutes into the second half. Senior Jacob Schmidt connected on the Cobbers' first shot of the game at 49:17. CC then fired three shots before sophomore Aronah Mukhtar tied the game at 1-1 at the 73:06 mark.

Schmidt started the scoring sequence by dribbling the ball down the field on the right wing. He was met at the corner of the Cardinal penalty area by an SMU defender. The two players collided and Schmidt fell under the weight of the challenge. The referee allowed the play to continue and as the ball rolled free a pair of St. Mary's defenders ran into one another as they went to clear the loose ball. The ball then rolled to Mukhtar who smashed it home from 12 yards out.

The game remained tied until the final 10 minutes of play. Junior Austin Peterson had moved up to play center forward after CC went up a man. He then orchestrated the game winner. Peterson received the ball and held off a Cardinal defender. He then turned and played a perfectly timed through ball to sophomore Sam Gess who ran past the SMU defense and caught the pass in stride. Gess then buried the finish on the breakaway at the 81:11 mark to collect his second goal of the season.

The Cobber defense tightened in the final eight minutes and didn't allow a shot at goal.

Concordia outshot the Cardinals 10-5 in total shots and 6-3 in shots on goal. Schmidt led all players with three shots. Schmidt and Mukhtar both had two shots on goal to lead CC.

Freshman goalie Jackson Carr stopped a pair of shots to earn his fifth win of the season.

TWO IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Concordia continued the theme of success when holding opponents to under two goals. The Cobbers finished the year by having a 5-1-1 record when they didn't allow more than one goal in a game. CC was 0-10-1 when they gave up two or more goals in a game.

LEADING SCORER: Aronah Mukhtar finished the year as Concordia's leading scorer. He had six goals and two assists for a team-best 14 points. His 14 points is the most by a CC player since 2013 season when Brett Wegleitner had 23 points.