Series Sweep Runs Win Streak To 5
Aaron Herdt scored his second game-winning goal of the weekend and helped Concordia beat Bethel 3-1 to claim a sweep in the series. The Cobbers have now won five straight games.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/01/20)---Make it two games for Senior Celebration weekend and two game-winning goals for senior Aaron Herdt.
Herdt scored his second game-winning of the weekend with 7-seconds remaining in the second period and helped Concordia beat Bethel 3-1 to earn their second straight conference sweep.
The Cobbers scored a single goal in all three periods and got a solid game in goal from junior Cam Haugenoe to earn the win in the series finale against the Royals.
The victory runs Concordia's win streak to five games and gives them 12 conference points in the last four games. The 6-point weekend jumped the Cobbers all the way from seventh place in the league standings to sole possession of second place. CC is now 6-3-1 in MIAC play and has 20 conference points. Concordia is now above the .500 mark in all games at 9-8-2.
Bethel loses for the seventh time in the last 10 games and is now 5-13-3 overall and 4-5-3 in the MIAC.
Like Friday night's game, the series finale was close throughout and like Friday's game, the Cobbers never trailed.
Concordia took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute of the opening period when Tyler Bossert scored an even-strength goal on an assist from defenseman Jaret Lalli. The goal was Bossert's fifth of the year and it would be the first of two points on the day.
Bethel tied the game at the 8:25 mark of the second period and it appeared that the teams would skate into the second break deadlocked at 1-1. Herdt and Bossert then decided to team up and give the Cobbers the momentum, and the game, with a highlight reel goal with 7-seconds left in the period.
Bossert played the puck between his legs on a 3-on-2 odd-man rush and gave it to Herdt who went bar down to score the game-winning goal at 19:53 of the middle frame. The goal was Herdt's team-leading 10th of the year.
Haugenoe, and the Cobber defense, would make sure the 1-goal lead would stand up. The CC defense limited Bethel to only six shots in the final 20 minutes of play and Haugenoe turned back all six to earn his third win of the season.
Senior defenseman Blake Berg finished off the scoresheet when he scored an empty-net goal at 18:03 of the final period.
Bethel pulled their goalie on a faceoff at the 17:58 mark. Joe Burgmeier won the draw and got the puck to Berg who fired a shot the length of the ice and into the open net. The insurance goal was Berg's second of the season.
Concordia outshot Bethel 42-29 in the game and put up double-digit shot totals in each period.
Herdt led all players with six shots on goal and Bossert added five.
Haugenoe stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced and is now 3-2-1 on the year.
Neither team scored on the power play in the game. The Cobbers were 0-for-4 while the Royals were held scoreless in their five PP attempts.
INSIDE STAT INFO: The two teams combined to go 0-for-16 on their power play over the weekend in the 2-game series. It marks the first time all year that no power play goals were scored in a 2-game series.
The last time the Cobbers and their opponent went without scoring a power play goal in a series came last year when Concordia played (wait for it…..) Bethel on Nov. 16-17. In that series the teams went 0-for-17 on the power play. The teams also didn't score a power play goal in the last game of their series in the 2018 season. The streak is now at 39 straight power play chances without a goal when the Cobbers and Royals face each other.
INSIDE STAT INFO II: Aaron Herdt now has four game-winning goals on the season which is tied for the lead in the MIAC and tied for fifth in Division III. He now has three of the six game winner for the Cobbers in conference play which is tops in the MIAC. Herdt now has 10 game-winning goals in his 1-plus seasons with the Cobbers. That is the top mark in the MIAC and is the most of any player in Division III during that time.
UP NEXT: Concordia will have a MIAC Top 3 showdown with Gustavus in St. Peter next weekend on Feb. 7-8. The Gusties are one point shy of the Cobbers in the standings with a 5-3-2 record. GAC is 9-7-3 in all games.
CONCORDIA vs. BETHEL GOALS