Series Opener Sponsored By The Number 3
It was a game of 3-goal streaks for Concordia and St. Catherine in the series opener on Friday. Unfortunately for the Cobbers, it was the Wildcats who came up with the final 3-goal binge and came away with a 6-3 victory.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/30/26)---It was a game of 3-goal streaks for Concordia and St. Catherine in the series opener on Friday. Unfortunately for the Cobbers, it was the Wildcats who came up with the final 3-goal binge and came away with a 6-3 victory.
St. Catherine (9-9-0, 4-7-0 MIAC) opened the game with three consecutive goals in the first period before the Cobbers tied the game at the end of the first and through the second frames. The Wildcats won the game when they scored a pair of goals 43-seconds apart to start the final period and added an insurance goal with 3:27 left on the clock.
The Power of 3 theme continues into Concordia's recent stretch of games. The Cobbers have now lost three straight games after posting three straight victories and are now 7-11-0 in all games and 4-7-0 in conference play.
St. Catherine jumped out quickly with three first-period goals — including two power-play tallies — to take a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Concordia's 3-goal response started late in the first when Memphis Mertens buried a power-play goal at 19:52, with assists from Kylie Huseth and Addie Moos, trimming the deficit to 3-1 heading into the first intermission.
Merten's much-needed strike was her sixth of the season and gave her 16 total points which tied teammate Taylyn Cope for the squad lead for the season.
The Cobbers then flipped momentum in the second period with two goals in the final 12 minutes. Anna Nelson struck short-handed at 8:23 to make it 3-2, and Huseth finished the comeback at 19:39. She netted an even strength goal off a feed from Jaclyn Lloyd to tie the game 3-3 heading into the third.
The goal for Nelson was her sixth of the season, while Huseth recorded her first goal in maroon and gold.
St. Catherine regained control early in the final period with goals at 5:50 and 6:33 to build a 5-3 advantage. The Wildcats finished off the score line with an empty-net goal at 16:33 to seal the outcome.
Concordia held a 42-37 advantage in shots on goal for the game which included outshooting SCU 30-15 in the final two periods of play.
Cobber goalie Abby Huselid made 31 saves on the night which marked her fifth 30-plus save performance of the season.
Concordia will look for the split in the series when they host the Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.
