Overtime Thriller On Senior Celebration Day

MOORHEAD, Minn. (02/19/22)---Concordia honored its nine seniors and their parents before the game, and then played some of their best hockey of the season the first 47-minutes of play against second-place Hamline.

The Cobbers built a 3-1 lead in the first two periods against the Pipers, but then HU rallied for two goals in the final 12:50 of the third period to tie the score at 3-3 and send the game into overtime. Concordia had several chances in the opening moments of the extra period, but then gave up the game-winning goal at 2:22 and lost 4-3.

Concordia is now 8-13-1 on the year and 4-10-1 in MIAC play. The Cobbers are now locked into the No.8 seed for the upcoming MIAC playoffs and will host St. Catherine on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

The teams played through a conservative, scoreless first period with each squad playing well in their own defensive end of the ice.

The Cobbers jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals 4:37 apart in the first 10 minutes of the second period.

Sophomore Josie Hell started the 4-goal second period when she 1-timed a perfect pass from Brooke McMillen into the far corner of the net. McMillen dug the puck out of the right corner and then fired a strike to Hell who had just come on to the ice on a line change, and was standing all alone between the faceoff circles. Hell's uncontested shot on the power play gave CC a 1-0 lead at 3:31 of the middle frame, and was her fifth goal of the year.

Sophomore Ellie Brewer doubled the Cobber lead when she netted her first collegiate goal at the 8:08 mark. She took a pass from Libby Hinrichs and fired a shot from the slot as she was being knocked to her knees that beat the Piper goalie.

Hamline (13-8-0, 11-4-0 MIAC) cut the lead to a single goal with a power play strike at 14:44.

Just when it looked like the momentum was on the side of the Pipers, senior Hannah Christian crashed the goal from her spot on the blue line and slammed home a rebound just before the end of the second period. First-year player Abbey Hardwick fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that ricocheted off the mask of the HU goalie and bounded to the top of the crease. Christian was racing to the net and had the puck carom off her shin pad and into the net.

The goal at 18:53 was Christian's fifth of the year.

The Pipers started their comeback with an even-strength goal at 7:10, and then added the game-tying goal at 16:08.

Hamline held a slight 36-31 edge in shots on goal for the game.

Kiana Flaig stopped 32 of the 36 shots she faced in the game.         

UP NEXT: Concordia and Hamline will finish off the MIAC regular season when they play the series finale on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.