Miss, Miss, Ringer

MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/15/23)---If Friday night's series opener with Wis.-Superior was a round of bean bags, Concordia would have missed the board on its first two throws and then swished a ringer on its third toss.

The Cobbers were shut out by the Yellowjackets in the first and second periods but then scored two goals in the first 11 minutes of the final frame to come away with a 2-1 win.

The victory ends a 3-game losing streak for the Cobbers, who are now 3-6-1 in all contests. Superior falls to 4-7-1 on the year.

The first period was played mainly in the Superior end of the rink, but neither team could create any quality scoring chances, and they went to the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1.

The game appeared that it might be headed for a 0-0 tie before the Yellowjackets struck for the opening goal of the game at 5:29 of the middle period.

While the second period was tilted in favor of Superior as they outshot 9-4, the final 20 minutes was all Cobbers. Concordia held an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal in the period and scored the only two goals in the frame.

Senior captain Jerica Friese tied the game at 4:02 when she took control of the puck on the far edge of the left faceoff circle, dangled her way past the lone defensive player in front of the goal and beat the Superior goalie to the right post and slid the puck in the net.

Taylyn Cope and Abbey Reule were credited with the assists on Friese's silky solo effort. For Reule, it was her team-leading seventh helper and ninth overall point.    

The game stayed deadlocked at 1-1 until the Cobbers went on their second power play of the game. CC took full advantage of the extra player situation by scoring 1:02 into the PP.

First-year forward Taylor Severson 1-time a perfectly placed pass from Paige Hanson that beat the Yellowjacket goalie between the pads. Grace Doerring and Hanson set up the game winner. Doerring drove the puck into the zone and dropped it to Hanson on the left point. Hanson faked a shot to get the defense to move and then slid a pass to Severson, who was standing on the faceoff dot on the right side of the ice.

Severson's goal at 10:37 was her third of the season. Doerring earned her fifth assist of the year, and Hanson now has four helpers in the team's first 10 games.

Concordia finished the night by outshooting the Yellowjackets 21-14. CC was 1-for-2 on the power play, and Superior was held scoreless in their two attempts.              

Sophomore goalie Hailee Bailey made 13 saves to record her first collegiate victory.  

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off the 2023 portion of its schedule when they host Superior in the series finale on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m.