Breakaway Win

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/02/16)—It looked like Concordia was headed for another frustrating goalless game. The Cobbers were tied 0-0 with St. Mary's late in the third period and spent the majority of the first two periods in the Cardinals zone.  

Enter junior Tori Davis.

Davis scored a breakaway goal in each of the second and third periods and helped the Cobbers beat St. Mary's 2-0.

The win keeps Concordia in a tie atop the MIAC standings. The Cobbers are now 4-1-0 in league play. CC wins for the third time in the last four games and moves to 6-2-1 overall. St. Mary's gets shutout fo r the second straight game and falls to 3-4-1 in all games and 1-3-1 in the MIAC.

While Davis was supplying the much-needed goal scoring support on offense, it was the defense and the return to form of senior netminder Andrea Klug that stymied St. Mary's in the defensive end.

Klug made several point blank saves and finished with 25 saves to record her first shutout of the season.

The Cobbers, who were blanked in their last outing at Marian and entered the game with a 66-minute scoreless streak, were on the offensive from the drop of the puck in the first period. Concordia had 11 shots on goal in the first period and the top line of Jess Nelson, Amber Schaack and Ellen Rethwisch spent the majority of every shift buzzing the Cardinal crease.

Concordia would be kept off the board for the first period and then through the first 15 minutes of the second period. The game would change at the start of the 17th minute of the middle frame when Davis pounced on a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in on a breakaway and beat the SMU goalie with a nifty move to the backhand.

Davis didn't feel the pressure of the scoreless streak stating, "We were a little worried at the beginning but then we got our composure back and were able to get one in."

The Cobbers fired nine shots on net in the second period but were only ahead 1-0 heading into the final period of play.

That changed in the third period when Davis skated down a puck between the top of the circles inside the SMU zone, went in all alone on goal and used the same move to the backhand to net a much-needed insurance goal.

It looked like the Cardinal goalie might come out to get the puck but Davis was happy she stayed in goal.

"I thought she was going to get to the puck at first," said Davis. "But then she hesitated so it bought me a little more time."

The biggest threat for the Cardinal came midway through the period when SMU had a pair of open chances from the top of the crease. Klug came up big when she sprawled on her side and stopped a point-blank shot with her outstretched arm.

Concordia wound up outshooting St. Mary's 32-25 for the game. Schaack once again led the Cobbers in shots on goal. She had a game-high seven shots while Davis added six.

Neither team scored on the five power play situations in the game. The Cobbers were 0-for-3 while SMU went 0-for-2.

GOALS LIKE BANANAS: The two-goal game marked the second time this season that Tori Davis had more than one goal in a game. Davis now has six multiple-goal games in the past two seasons of play. She is now second on the team in goals scored with five.

PINK FLOYD FRIDAY: It was the return of "The Wall" for the Cobbers on Friday. Goalie Andrea Klug stopped all 25 shots she faced to earn her first shutout of the season. It was her ninth blanking in the last two years and she now has 15 career shutouts in maroon and gold. Klug lowered her season goals against average to 2.30 and upped her save percentage to over 90-percent for the first ime since the third game of the year.

RISK TAKERS, SHOT MAKERS: Concordia had 32 shots against St. Mary's and has now had seven straight 30-plus shot games in-a-row. The Cobbers lead the MIAC in total shots with 321. Senior Amber Schaack added to her league-leading total with seven shots on Friday. She now has 54 shots this season and 315 for her career.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The two teams will finish off their two-game series on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center. The last time the Cobbers swept SMU came at the Moorhead Youth Rink in 2015.   

CONCORDIA vs. ST. MARY'S HIGHLIGHTS: