February 22, 2025
The Cobbers Live!
Concordia lost the regular-season finale to St. John's and thought they were out of the playoffs but then a victory by Augsburg over St. Mary's resuscitated the Cobbers' postseason hopes and gave them the final spot in the MIAC playoffs.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/22/25)---Don't try and hide in the closet. Don't get in the car by yourself. And for sure don't go into the cellar. There is nowhere you can hide from Concordia's playoff hopes.
The Cobbers lost a playoff-style, back-and-forth game with St. John's in the regular-season finale and thought they were knocked out of the playoffs.
That all changed two hours later when Concordia's playoff chances came back from the dead one last time when Augsburg beat St. Mary's to give the Cobbers the fifth, and final, spot in the MIAC postseason.
The Cobbers live.
Concordia and St. John's skated through 50 minutes of the final game of the regular season and were deadlocked at 2-2. Both teams had chances to score but couldn't find the back of the net and the game appeared to be headed to overtime but then the Johnnies got the game winner on a snipe from between the faceoff circles at 11:06 of the final period, added an empty-net strike with 9 seconds remaining and earned a 4-2 win.
The scoreline was identical to Concordia's 4-2 win at St. John's on Thursday night.
Concordia (11-11-3, 7-6-3 MIAC) never led in the game on Saturday but never let the Johnnies get more than one goal ahead.
St. John's (11-13-1, 8-7-1 MIAC) opened the scoring at 5:39 of the first period and then Tal Halliday hit the rare hockey buzzer beater to send the teams into the first intermission tied at 1-1.
The Cobbers earned a faceoff in the SJU end with 2 seconds left on the clock. Senior Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe won the draw and Halliday stepped into the faceoff circle and batted the puck towards the goal. The puck barely crossed over the line before the horn went off to end the period.
The goal at 19:59 was Halliday's fifth of the season and Henkemeyer-Howe claimed his team-leading 12th assist of the year.
The teams duplicated the scoring scenario in the second period with St. John's taking a 1-goal lead at 2-1 at the 4:16 mark and the Cobbers responding with the game-tying tally in the final 5 minutes of the frame.
First-year forward Blake Johnson knotted the game at 2-2 when he posted his second goal of the year at 16:01. Tucker Skime and Mason Plante had the assists on the play.
The game would stay at 2-2 for the final 3:59 of the second period and the first 9:54 of the third before SJU got the decisive strike.
Concordia outshot St. John's 24-23 but both teams had multiple shots miss the target throughout the game.
One of the differences in the game came on the power play where St. John's was 1-for-2 and the Cobbers were held scoreless in their three attempts.
Sophomore goalie Dane Couture made 19 saves for CC.
The same two teams will decide the best-of-3 series when they square off in the quarterfinals of the MIAC playoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
CONCORDIA vs. ST. JOHN'S HIGHLIGHTS
CONCORDIA vs. ST. JOHN'S HIGHLIGHTS
