Three In The Third Ends Unbeaten Streak

ST. PAUL, Minn. (2/20/15)—Concordia gave up three unanswered goals in the third period and had their 10-game unbeaten streak come to an end after losing 5-3 at St. Catherine.

The Cobbers scored the first two goals of the game but then watched as the Wildcats tally five of the next six to pull off the two-goal win. The five goals allowed is the most in a single game all season long by Concordia.

The loss doesn't hurt the Cobbers in the MIAC standings as they are still in sole possession of third place. CC is currently 9-5-3 in league play and needs only one point from tomorrow's regular-season finale to lock up the No.3 seed in the upcoming MIAC playoffs and secure a bye into the conference tournament semifinals. Concordia is now 10-11-3 in all games.

Jess Nelson and Kelsey Vandegrift staked Concordia to a 2-0 lead when they combined for goals 2:18 apart in the first half of the opening period of play. Nelson put the Cobbers up 1-0 when she netted her third goal of the season at the 6:01 mark. Tori Davis and Kristin Drechsel were awarded the assists on the play.

Vandegrift then continued her scoring tear by lighting the lamp at 8:19. Her even-strength score put CC up 2-0. Vandegrift's team-leading 12th of the season was assisted by Maddy Gendreau. Vandegrift has now scored at least one goal in seven straight games which ties a school record for longest scoring streak. Katie Jacques had a seven-game streak in 2002 and Lindsay Kurtis scored in seven straight in 2001.

With a two-goal cushion it looked like Concordia was set to cruise to its 11th straight game without a loss. The Cobbers held a decided edge in shots on goal and enjoyed a majority of the offensive zone time.

The game turned in the last five minutes of the first period. St. Catherine was able to get a goal back at 16:31 and carry momentum into the locker room only down 2-1.

The Wildcats then tied the game in the second minute of the middle period. It took the Cobbers a full eight minutes to get into the period and then Gendreau helped Concordia retake a one-goal advantage when she scored her eighth goal of the year at 10:07. It was Gendreau's team-leading 24th point of the year. She has 23 points in conference play and leads the MIAC in points in league games. The power play goal was unassisted and would be the only tally for the remainder of the period.

The third period belonged to the Wildcats as they scored three times, including the game winner and an insurance goal in the final seven minutes of play.  The Cobbers were outshot 11-7 in the final 20 minutes of play and couldn't convert on their two power play chances.

Concordia went 1-for-4 on the man advantage while St. Catherine was 2-for-3 on the power play for the game.

The Cobbers were outshot by a scant 32-30 margin for the game. Bekah Wright and Libby Fransdal had four shots each to lead CC.

Andrea Klug stopped 27 shots in goal for the Cobbers.

The same two teams will finish off the regular season when they play the series finale on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Drake/SPA Arena.