4 Unanswered Leads To Series Split

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/08/20)--- Concordia took a 2-1 lead at Gustavus at the 5:52 mark of the second period and it looked like the Cobbers were on their way to their third straight series sweep. Unfortunately the Gusties had a different idea as they scored four unanswered goals and handed Concordia a 5-2 loss in the series finale in St. Peter.

The loss puts an end to Concordia's 6-game winning streak. The Cobbers are now 10-9-2 overall and 7-4-1 in the MIAC. CC has 23 points in league play which puts them in sole possession of second place with four games left in the regular season. Gustavus climbs to within a single point of Concordia in the standings. The Gusties are now 6-4-2 in conference play and up their overall record to 10-8-3 overall.

Concordia carried over its momentum from the Friday-night win and scored in the fourth minute of play on Saturday. Senior Jake Ellingson scored an unassisted even strength goal at 3:38 to give CC the early lead. The goal was Ellingson's sixth of the season which is tied for second most on the team in 2020.

Gustavus would tie the game at 8:17 of the opening period and the teams would skate to the first break tied at 1-1.

Sophomore Jacen Bracko would reestablish the Cobber lead in the sixth minute of the second period. He scored an even strength goal on an assist from Quinn Fuchs at 5:35. The goal was Bracko's sixth of the season while Fuchs recorded his ninth assist of the year.

The game would turn in Gustavus' favor on a pair of penalties called 1:33 apart starting at the 6:20 mark. The Gusties were able to capitalize on both power play chances and took a 3-2 lead with two goals in a span of 117 seconds.

Concordia had a full 2-minute power play midway through the period but couldn't capitalize and GAC took a 3-2 lead into the final frame.

Gustavus iced the game with even strength goals at 5:33 and 13:27 of the third period.

The Gusties outshot Concordia in all three periods and held a 45-32 edge in shots for the game.

Bracko and Blake Berg led the Cobbers in shots on goal with five.

Junior goalie Cam Haugenoe made 40 saves in the game for CC.

Concordia was 0-for-3 on the power play on Saturday and went 0-for-6 on the weekend. Gustavus was 2-for-3 with the man advantage in the series finale and scored four of their seven goals in the series on the power play.   

INSIDE STAT INFO: The Cobbers' second goal of the game pushed a pair of players into the double-digit point club for the season. Jacen Bracko has six goals and four assists for 10 points while senior Quinn Fuchs now has one goal and nine assists for 10 points. Concordia now has four players with at least 10 points on the season. Fuchs now has at least 10 points in all four seasons as a Cobber. He also has at least nine assists in three straight seasons and has 45 career points for CC.                    

UP NEXT: Concordia returns to Moorhead for the biggest home series of the season. The Cobbers will host league-leading Augsburg in a 2-game series on Feb. 14-15 at the Moorhead Youth Rink. The Auggies are three points ahead of CC in the standings with an 8-3-1 record in the MIAC. Augsburg is 13-7-1 in all games.   

Saturday recaps sponsored by Bufffalo Wild Wings: Grab your friends and get to B-Dubs on Sunday nights for College Nights at 9 p.m. 50% off 1 food item with ID and $3 apps at the Buffalo Wild Wings located on Hwy 10 in Moorhead.