A Second-Period Goal Blizzard

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/17/20)--- The wind and snow might have been blowing outside the Moorhead Sports Center but inside was the real blizzard as Concordia had a flurry of three goals in a 1:14 in the second period, scored five straight times to start the game and beat St. Catherine 5-1 in the first conference game of the 2020 calendar year.

The Cobbers got goals from five different players as they snapped a 6-game losing streak. The last six losses for Concordia were all against teams ranked in the Top 10 of the country.

The win pushes Concordia into fifth place in the MIAC standings. The Cobbers are now 3-4-0 in league games and 5-9-0 overall. The Wildcats remain winless in their last six games and fall to 5-8-0 in all games and 2-5-0 in the MIAC.

Neither team had a big advantage in the first period but Concordia was able to take a 1-0 lead into the break on a goal from Maiah McCowan. It was her third goal of the year and came at the 4:13 mark. Freshman Kenley Anderson netted her first collegiate assist on the play and it would be the first of two collegiate milestones for the Bismarck HS product.

The second period was the decision-maker in the game. Concordia outshot St. Catherine 12-4 in the period and scored four goals in a span of 8:21.

Megan Mohr doubled Concordia's lead to 2-0 when she finished off an odd-player rush up the ice, took a centering pass from Amanda Flemming and slammed it home from just on top of the crease. Her second goal of the year sparked a 3-goal flurry over the next 1:14.   

The Cobbers got control of the ensuing faceoff, rushed down the ice and Brenna Mjoness was able to net her second goal of the year at the 6:15 mark. The quick back-to-back strike was assisted by Kaitlyn Page which would be the first of her two points in the period. The goal was Mjoness' second of the year which matches her output from last year's freshman campaign.  

Anderson would notch her first collegiate goal at 7:17 to give the Cobbers three goals in 1:14 and push the lead to 4-0. Mackenzie Bergstrom was credited with the assist on the play.

Page would finish off the 4-goal period when she scored a shorthanded goal at 14:36. She took a feed from defenseman Maddie Ellingson which split the SCU defense in the middle of the ice and went down on a breakaway and beat the Wildcat goalie.

Concordia was content to sit back and make St. Kate's have to go through all five skaters in the third period to reach the goal. The emphasis on defensive kept the Wildcats from making a run at the Cobbers.

St. Kate's broke the shutout bid with 3:39 left in the third period on an unassisted even-strength goal.

Concordia outshot St. Kate's 25-21 in the game. There were 61 total shots attempted in the game but only 46 found the mark.

Flemming, McCowan and Page led the Cobber offense with three shots each.

Freshman goalie Kiana Flaig turned aside 20 of the 21 shots she faced to record her third win of the season.

Neither team was able to score on the power play. Both squads were 0-for-3 with the extra skater on the ice.

INSIDE STAT INFO: The five goals put on the scoreboard is the most by the Cobbers this season and most since they posted seven against Northland last season. The last time CC had a least five goals in a conference game was when they scored five times against St. Benedict on Jan. 20, 2018.   
   
UP NEXT: Concordia will tangle with St. Kate's again on Saturday, Jan. 18. The teams will finish off their 2-game series at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center. Both teams are 3-3-0 in games played on a Saturday this season.