2016 Looks A Lot Like 2015

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/08/16)--- The start of 2016 looked a lot like the finish of the 2015 calendar. The Cobber defense refused to budge and junior Andrea Klug did her best impersonation of a wall as Concordia tied No.7-ranked Wis.-River Falls in overtime.

The shutout is the sixth of the year for the Cobbers and netminder Klug. She continues to add to her school record single season shutout mark and is currently tied for the NCAA Division III lead in shutouts.

Klug stopped all 29 shots she faced against the Falcons as Concordia moved their record to 7-4-1. The Cobbers are now unbeaten in their last three games. River Falls has their eight-game win streak come to an end.  The Falcons are now 10-2-1 on the year.

Penalties swung the momentum in each of the first and second periods. River Falls held the edge in the first period of play and had the majority of the offensive zone time for the first 10 minutes. That changed midway through the opener when CC was awarded the first of their five power plays in the game.

Concordia was able to get a flow on the offensive end and started to get the upper hand. They had their second man-advantage opportunity late in the period and continued to swarm the net.

The Cobbers continued their momentum into the second period but that changed in the fifth minute of the middle frame. Concordia was whistled for a penalty at 4:40 which revived the Falcon offense. River Falls was held off the board but they carried that momentum all the way through the end of the frame.

The two best chances came in the third period and then into overtime.  Concordia's best opportunity came off the stick of sophomore Tori Davis. Davis was able to get behind the River Falls defense on the back post and a centering pass found her open but the following one-timer was stopped by goalie Angie Hall.

The Falcons had their best chance in the first two minutes of the extra period. An attacker picked up the puck at the top of the faceoff circles and broke free to go all alone on goal. Her breakaway attempt beat Klug but clanked off the post and bounced into the corner.

Concordia was outshot 29-17 for the game. Jess Nelson had a team-high four shots as she buzzed all over the ice. Davis was close behind with three shots on goal.

BE LIKE BRODEUR
Andrea Klug now has six shutouts for the season and now has 12 for her career. Both marks are school records. Klug lowered her season goals against average to 1.09 which leads the MIAC and is eighth best in Division. Her save percentage is now at a healthy 95.8% which also leads the conference and is sixth in the nation. The Cobber record for lowest goals against average in a single season is 1.65 and the save percentage mark is 93.3%. Julie York holds the GAA record while Klug is the current record holder for save percentage which she set two years ago.

PENALTY KILL PROWESS
The Cobbers held the nationally ranked Falcons scoreless in their three power play attempts. That is nothing new for the CC special teams unit. Concordia has only allowed a power play goal in three of their 12 games this season and has a 97.0% kill success rate in the past 10 games. They have killed off 33 of their last 34 power play chances.

WHAT'S NEXT
The two teams who are both ranked in the top 15 of the nation in fewest goals allowed will try and give the scoreboard operator more work when they finish off the two-game series on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.