Long Relief Shutout

STORY LINE: Tyler Bossert scored the only goal of the game in the first period and Concordia had a pair of goalies pitch a shutout as the Cobbers blanked Gustavus 1-0 to earn the series sweep. Freshman Gabe Holum earned his first collegiate start but had to leave the game in the 13th minute with a leg injury so Jacob Stephan entered the game, made 30 saves in the final 47 minutes and helped Concordia record their second straight win.

RECORDS: Concordia earns their third MIAC sweep of the season and is now 13-7-3 in all games and 9-3-2 in the MIAC. The nine league wins is the most since the 2013 season when CC went 10-6-0 and finished in third place. The Cobbers now have 31 conference points and are all alone in second place in the MIAC standings. Gustavus drops to 7-15-1 in all games and 4-9-1 in the MIAC.

STEPHAN STEPS IN FOR THE WIN:  Jacob Stephan came off the bench to earn his 11th win of the season. He stopped all 30 shots he faced in the 47:35 of action. Stephan's 11 victories are the most since Chris Neamonitis won 13 in 2013. Stephan is now 11-5-2 on the year. He is now second in the MIAC in save percentage (93.2%) and fifth in GAA (2.23).

M-A-T LINE SHOVELS OUT AND RESUMES DELIVERY: The lone goal of the came on the prettiest set-up of the season as the M-A-T line of Mario Bianchi, Aaron Herdt and Tyler Bossert delivered one more time. The Cobbers were staked to their first power play opportunity of the game at 17:13 of the period. Freshman won the draw and the puck came back to Bianchi. He then fired a pass to Herdt who was standing in front of the Gustie goal. Herdt settled the puck and then slid a pass backwards between his legs to the bottom of the left faceoff circle where Bossert 1-timed a shot past the bewildered goalie.

TYLER BOSSERT GOAL: 


M-A-T LINE TOTALS: Mario Bianchi, Aaron Herdt and Tyler Bossert have combined for 40 goals and 95 points. The 40 goals is 52.6% of the team's total goal output this season. They have also scored in 17 of the 19 games they have played in as a line.

PENALTY KILL KEEPS IT GOING: The Cobber penalty kill squad held Gustavus scoreless in their four chances on Saturday. CC didn't allow a goal in five power play attempts on the weekend. They have only allowed two PP goals in the past 18 chances and lead the MIAC in penalty kill success (90.1%). Concordia is third in the nation on the penalty kill.

POWER PLAY PROWESS: The Cobbers also lead the MIAC in power play percentage. CC scored a power play goal in both games against Gustavus and has scored a PP goal in three straight games. Concordia has a 24.1% success rate on the power play which is 12th best in Division III.  

SPECIAL TEAMS SUPERIORITY: Concordia leads all of Division III in combined special teams. When you combine power play and penalty kill the Cobbers have a 59.4% success rate.

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off the regular season with a showdown at league-leading Augsburg on Feb. 15-16. The Cobbers trail the Auggies by four points in the standings and would need a sweep, or a double OT or shootout win, to capture the MIAC title. Augsburg had their bye week and is 17-3-3 overall and 11-1-2 in the MIAC.