Concordia scored the game-winning goal with less than one minute to play at Augsburg to move into second place in the MIAC.
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Team |
1st Half |
2nd Half |
Final |
 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (10/10/09)-- On Saturday against previously nationally ranked Augsburg, Concordia proved the old adage, "it's not how you start the race, it's how you finish," as the Cobbers waited until the final minute of play to score the game winner and pull off the 1-0 win. CC has now won four straight MIAC games and is tied for second place in the league standings.
The four straight conference wins is the most since the 2001 season when they also won four straight. The Cobbers are now 7-6 overall and 4-3 in the MIAC. Concordia has now won five straight overall games after losing six straight. The remarkable turnaround has helped CC move all the way into a tie for second place in the conference standings - the highest the team has ever been in October since the 2001 campaign.
Augsburg (5-5-1/1-4-0 MIAC) held a decided edge in every statistical category except the one that decides the difference between making the playoffs and breaking out the ice skates for a long winter. Concordia was outshot 20-6 and was on the wrong end of a 14-1 margin in corner kicks but when it came to goals, the Cobbers held a very pretty 1-0 advantage.
The Cobber winning streak has coincided with a commitment to strong defensive play for the Cobbers. In the team's six-game losing skid, CC conceded 11 goals and gave up at least two goals in four of the six contests. In the five-game winning streak Concordia has only allowed two goals and has now posted three straight shutouts. The current defense is starting to resemble the stellar defensive crews that helped the Cobbers win back-to-back MIAC titles in 1995 and 1996 and led the league in goals allowed year after year.
The decisive score came with only :56 seconds to play in regulation. Freshman Jared Rice was sent through of the Augsburg defense on a ball from defender Patty Rundlett. Rice beat the turned Auggie defense to the ball and fired a shot to the right corner that was deflected and then spun into the far right side of the net. For Rice it was the third straight game in which he has scored a goal. It is also his fourth goal in the last five games since being moved up to the front line. Rundlett recorded the assist on the play and has now posted assists in three of the last four games and is now third on the team in assists with four.
Cobber keeper Mads Schmidt withstood the Augsburg pressure all game long and came up with several key saves to keep the Cobbers in the game. He finished with seven stops to earn his fourth shutout of the season. He has only allowed two goals in the past five games and has lowered his goals against average to 1.07 - the lowest in his four-year Cobber career.
Concordia will stay on the road when they put their five-game winning streak on the line at Hamline on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 1:30 p.m.
