Slow Start Continues To Clobber Cobbers
For the second straight game Concordia allowed two goals in the first half and lost an MIAC game.
Moorhead, Minn. (9/19/15) --- For the second straight game Concordia allowed a pair of first-half goals, could never recover and lost in conference play. The Cobbers gave up two goals in the first 15:20 of the opening period and lost 2-1 to Macalester.
The loss is the third straight for Concordia and second in the MIAC. CC is now 1-6-0 overall while the Scots remain unbeaten at 3-0-3.
Both of the goals in the early going for Macalester came via penalty area scrums. The Scots got on the board at 7:10 and then added the eventual game-winner at 15:20 when a Cobber defender tried to clear the ball away from the goal. The ball ricocheted off of a Scot attacker and back into the net.
Concordia continued their sluggish play in the first half and finished the period without a shot.
The second half was a different story as CC came out of the locker room with a different level of energy and was able to generate attacks on the Macalester net. The Cobbers had five shots in the final half and limited the Scots to six shots. Concordia had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal for the final 45 minutes.
The Cobbers won the second half, and got to within a single goal for the game, when sophomore Jacob Schmidt scored his second goal in the last three games. Schmidt fired a hard shot from the top of the penalty area into the far right corner of the net after the ball was played towards the goal. Nick Koerbitz earned the assist on Schmidt's second goal of the year.
After narrowing the gap to 2-1 with 6:48 left in the game, Concordia continued to push forward and almost came up with the game-tying goal.
The best chance of the final six minutes came when Cobber goalie Alan Scheuermann had pushed forward towards the Macalester net in the final minute of play. Scheurmann won possession of the ball at the top of the penalty area on the right wing and then lifted a cross to the back left post. Schmidt ran on to the pass but narrowly missed tapping the ball towards the goal.
Scheuermann made five saves in the game while Macalester goalie Zeke Vanier stopped three shots.
STAT SMARTS: Schmidt failed to score in all of his freshman season in 2014 but has now scored two goals in three games. His two goals is tied for the team lead. Concordia has now allowed at least two goals in six of their seven games this year. The only time they held an opponent under two goals was in their lone win of the season against Carthage.
WHAT'S NEXT? Concordia hits the road along with the women's team to take on Buena Vista (Storm Lake, IA) tomorrow afternoon in a non-conference game. The team is looking to rebound after dropping their first two MIAC games of the season. The Cobbers hosted Buena Vista last season and defeated the Beavers 5-1 in late October.