A Senior Day Nail Biter
Concordia scored the first three goals in their Senior Day Celebration game St. Olaf but then had to hold off an Ole rally in the third period before coming away with a 3-2 win.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/22/20)---It looked like the Cobbers were going to coast to an easy win in the season finale against St. Olaf. Concordia scored the first three goals in the game and held a dominant 36-9 edge in shots on goal in the final seconds of the second period.
The Oles turned it into a grey-hair inducing third period by scoring a goal with only 2-seconds left in the middle period and then adding a second in the first 30-seconds in the third period. The Cobbers were able to weather the storm and held on to post a 3-2 win to gain the series sweep.
Concordia finishes the year with an 8-17-0 record in all games. The Cobbers were 6-12-0 in conference play and finished only two points out of the playoffs.
The Cobbers controlled the first 39:58 of the game and put up a single goal in the first period and then two more in the second to take a 3-0 lead before the game was half over.
Libby Hinrichs continued her scoring tear by netting the first goal of the game at the 15:07 mark of the opening period. It was her third goal of the series and second straight first goal of the game for CC on the weekend. Seniors Amanda Flemming and Maddie Ellingson, who were honored with their four other senior teammates and their parents before the game, picked up the assists on Senior Celebration Day.
Concordia outshot St. Olaf 16-4 in the first period. The Cobbers then appeared to have broken the game wide open with two goals in the first nine minutes of the middle frame. Ellingson scored a shorthanded goal at 2:07 after she shrugged off a defender and single-handedly created the second goal of the game. Another senior, Ally Wiitala had the assist.
Sophomore Brenna Mjoness scored the eventual game-winning goal at 8:32 when she slid home a rebound that was lying in the crease in front of a wide open net after teammate Hannah Christian had taken the initial shot. The goal was Mjoness' second of the weekend and third of the year.
The Cobbers continued to apply the pressure for the remainder of the second period and it looked like CC would head into the locker room with a 3-0 lead, The Oles were able to change the tone of the game with a power play goal at 19:58 of the second and then an even-strength marker at the 22-second mark of the final frame.
Concordia wound up outshooting St. Olaf 52-13 in the game. Wiitala led all players with eight shots on goal and Ellingson added seven.
Senior Amy Jost got the start in goal and made 11 saves to record her second win of the season.
INSIDE STAT INFO: The 52 shots on goal for the Cobbers was a season high and the most in a single game since the 2017 season when they put up 56 shots on St. Benedict. CC had 96 shots in the series which is the most in a 2-game series since they had 100 against the Oles in 2015.
