Cobbers Fall In Series Opener With Augsburg

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/03/23)---Concordia allowed the first three goals in their series opener with Augsburg and lost 3-1.

The Auggies scored a pair of goals in the first period, and added another midway through the third before the Cobbers could get on the board at the 15:29 mark of the final frame.

Augsburg (13-5-2, 10-2-1 MIAC) netted their two goals in the first period in a span of less than five minutes. They opened the scoring at the 5:16 mark and then doubled the lead at 10:43.

Concordia (5-15-0, 2-11-0 MIAC) started to put the pressure on the Auggie goal in the back half of the first period but couldn't come up with the score that would bring them within one.

The teams skated through a scoreless second period with each team having quality chances to score, and each being stopped by the opposing team's goalie.

Augsburg got the all-important "next goal" at 11:15 of the third period to push the lead to 3-0.

The Cobbers finally got on the board in the final five minutes of regulation when Jerica Friese's shot ricocheted off a player in front of the net and slid past the Augsburg goalie.

The goal was Friese's team-leading 12th of the season. She also leads the team in overall points with 16.

Senior goalie Kiana Flaig was solid throughout the game. She made several point-blank saves and was able to control the rebounds so the Auggies didn't get many second chances at the goal.

Flaig finished the game with 41 saves. That ties her season-high total. She also made 41 stops against No.2-ranked Wis.-River Falls on Jan. 6. Flaig now has 1,594 saves in her career which is second most in program history. Shyla Wilson (2000-03) owns the school record with 2,465 saves.

Neither team was able to score on the power play. Both teams had three chances to score, but were unable to get any serious scoring threats during those chances.           

UP NEXT: Concordia square off against Augsburg in the series finale on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.