Offense Steps Into The Spotlight

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/03/16)—A five-goal outburst helped Concordia roll over St. Mary's and gain a sweep in the two-game conference series.

The Cobbers owned all three periods on Saturday afternoon as they skated to a 5-0 victory. Forward Ellen Rethwisch netted two of Concordia's five in a dominant offensive exhibition by the league's leading offense.

The win is the fourth in the last five games for the Cobbers. CC is now 7-2-1 in all games. Concordia remains tied for the lead in the MIAC standings as they up their league record to 5-1-0. St. Mary's is shutout for the third straight game and is now 3-5-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the conference.

Rethwisch opened the game's scoring when she grabbed a pass from linemate Amber Schaack in front of the St. Mary's goal and one-time it past the Cardinal goaltender at 12:10 of the first period. The goal would be the first of three points in the game for the senior from Plymouth who recorded a point in each period. 

The Cobbers added another goal early in the second period when Tori Davis notched her team-leading sixth goal of the season on an assist from Jessica Kongelf at the 6:19 mark. The power play goal was the first of two man-advantage tallies for the Cobbers. 

Concordia dialed up the offensive pressure in the third period – scoring three times. The Cobbers scored the first of their three third-period goals at the 3:59 mark when Retchwisch raced past the SMU defense on the right wing to get free on a breakaway. She then went bar down on the Cardinal goalie's glove side to give CC the 3-0 lead. 

The Cobbers struck again just two minutes later when Mackenzie Lundeen dangled her way from the right circle through four St. Mary's defenders to the front of the net and then slotted the puck into the net to give Concordia the 4-0 lead. The unassisted tally for Lundeen marked her first collegiate goal. 

Concordia capped off the scoring midway through the final frame as Abbie Canton slid home a rebound after the puck caromed off the back wall on a shot from the point. Canton slid the puck underneath the goalie to earn her fourth goal of the year.  

MOORHEAD SPORTS CENTER MAGIC: Concordia remains unbeaten at the Moorhead Sports Center this season. The Cobbers are 3-0-1 at home on the year and 14-3-2 in the past two seasons.  

FINALLY IN THE FIRST PERIOD: Ellen Rethwisch's opening goal against St. Mary's was the first time the Cardinals have given up a goal in the opening period of play the entire season. 

BACK-TO-BACK BLANKINGS: Concordia's back-to-back shutouts marks the second straight season the team has put together a multiple game shutout streak. Last year the Cobbers had a string of four straight blankings.

GOALS GALORE: Concordia's five-goal output is the fourth time this season that the Cobbers have scored at least five goals in a game. CC had only four five-or-more goal games in all of last year.   

RECORD QUEEN: Andrea Klug added to her school-record shutout total. She now has 10 shutouts in the past two years and 16 for her career. Klug also has school record totals in most wins by a goalie (34), save percentage (92.9%) and goals against average (1.85). 

SHOTS FIRED: Concordia commanded the offensive zone possession and it showed in the offensive numbers. The Cobbers outshot St. Mary's 35-14 which marked the eighth straight game that CC has outshot its opponent. It is also the eighth straight game that Concordia hs put up at least 30 shots in a game.

WELCOME BACK: After not scoring on the power play for two consecutive games, Concordia went 2-for-3 with the extra skater on Saturday. The multiple-goal power play game is the fourth of the season. Concordia has now scored 14 power play goals which is tops in the MIAC. The Cobbers now have a 31.8% power play success rate which leads all of Division I and III.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Cobbers will travel to Wisconsin to take on Northland next Tuesday, Dec. 13 in their final game before the Christmas break. Concordia will go back to Wisconsin for their first series of the 2017 calendar year. CC will square off with No. 4-ranked Wis.-River Falls on January 6-7.

CONCORDIA vs. ST. MARY'S HIGHLIGHTS: