Heart-Check, Nail-Biter To Start Conference Play

MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/07/25)---If the Cobbers' MIAC opener against Augsburg was any indication of how the conference season is going to play out, then fans might want to have their hearts checked before each game.

Concordia went back-and-forth with the Auggies in a nail-biting 1-1 overtime tie that went into a shootout for the extra point in the MIAC standings. Blake Johnson and Jackson Lucia proceeded to bury their shootout attempts, goalie Dane Couture stymied two of the three Augsburg skaters and CC walked away with the two points.

Concordia is now 2-0-2 against Augsburg in the last four matchups between the two teams.

Both teams were solid in their defensive zones throughout the entire 65 minutes of regulation and the 3-on-3 overtime period. CC held a 23-19 edge in shots on goal but most of those chances came from outside of the faceoff circles.       

Both goals in regulation came in the first two periods and were courtesy of special teams play.

Augsburg (0-2-1, 0-0-1 MIAC) opened the scoring when they netted a power play goal at 6:11. Peyton Hanson threw the puck towards the goal from below the red line and his centering pass caromed off of Couture and into the net.

Concordia (1-1-1, 0-0-1 MIAC) tied the game at the 18-minute mark of the opening period when Caden Triggs scored on a breakaway while the Cobbers were killing off a penalty. Ben Luedtke set up the game-tying goal when he poke-checked the puck away from the Auggie defenseman at the CC blue line. The puck went straight to Triggs on the left wing. He raced into the Augsburg end and fired a shot from the left faceoff dot. His shot hit the Augsburg goalie in the pads on the ice. The puck proceeded to carom straight up and over the back of the netminder, hit the ice and rolled into the net.

The goal was Triggs' second of the season and Concordia's first shorthanded strike of the season.

Both teams had chances to score in the third period but couldn't break the tie. CC had the better of the offensive zone time and held an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal for the final 20 minutes of the game.

Augsburg outshot the Cobbers 2-1 in the 5-minute overtime period but both goalies stood tall and kept the score deadlocked at 1-1.

The shootout started with a pair of misses before Augsburg and Concordia traded makes on the second attempt. Johnson scored for the Cobbers to even the shootout at 1-1. Couture made the game-winning save on the third Auggie attempt, and Lucia cemented the extra point by going 5-hole on the Augsburg goalie.

The shootout victory was the first for the Cobbers since the end of the 2022 season when CC bettered Hamline 1-0 in the shootout on a goal by Tyler Bossert.

The shootout was also the second in the last four games between Concordia and the Auggies.

Couture finished the night with 18 saves, while Triggs and Joe Harguindeguy led the offense with four shots each.

The two teams will finish the 2-game series on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.