Sophomore Jared Collen threads past the UST defense on his way to the first of his three goals in CC's 5-4 win on Friday.
Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: January 15, 2010
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Gameday Menu:
Opponent's Website: St. Thomas Men's Hockey
MIAC Website: MIAC Men's Hockey
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/15/10)-- Concordia scored five straight goals against St. Thomas on Friday night to erase a 3-0 deficit midway through the second period and rally for a 5-4 win over the Tommies in Moorhead in front of the largest crowd of the season. Jared Collen was the force behind the Cobber comeback as he scored three of the five goals and recorded his first collegiate hat trick.
The win snaps a 12-game losing streak against the Tommies - a stretch that dates back to 2002-03 season. It also ends Concordia's three-game losing streak at the end of 2009 and start of 2010. The Cobbers are now 3-2-2 in the MIAC and currently tied for third place in the league standings.
St. Thomas (5-8-3/2-4-1 MIAC) had their way in the first 30 minutes of the game. The Tommies continually carried the attack to Concordia and shut down the Cobber offense in the neutral zone. Despite the dominant play by UST, the score was tied with under two minutes to go in the opening period. That scoreline changed with just over one minute to play when Parker Burgess connected on the first of his two goals in the game. Burgess knocked home a rebound from the right side of the crease at 18:59 to give St. Thomas the 1-0 lead. His sixth goal of the season came on the power play with just :11 seconds remaining on the man advantage.
Burgess gave the Tommies a 2-0 lead in the second period when he scored an even-strength goal at the 1:46 mark. The goal, assisted by Andy Singerhouse and Rob Johnson, seemed to deflate Concordia as they now faced a two-goal uphill battle. The Cobbers were able to hold off the Tommie momentum for the next eight minutes but then Evan Mackintosh cashed in on a soft rebound to put St. Thomas up 3-0 with just over 10 minutes to play in the period. Mackintosh's second goal of the year was assisted by Corvin Kieger and Ryan Kurtz.
It looked as if Concordia would be content to try and keep the Tommies off the board for the remainder of the period but then Marc Harrie was able to slide home a goal on the power play at 12:25. Erick Galt and Nick Thielen were credited with the assists on Harrie's fifth goal of the year. Four minutes later Collen got Concordia within one goal when he netted the first of his three goals at 16:06. Collen intercepted the puck in the middle of the ice then used his speed to skate around the Tommie defense on the left side and finally cut in front of the net and slid the puck past UST goalie Sean Deichert on the far side of the goal. Carried by the momentum of the two second-half goals in the period, the Cobbers went into the third period down just 3-2.
Concordia tied the game less than two minutes into the final frame. Bronson Shepherd scored his first goal of the season at 1:29 on assists from Casey Olson and Shawn Goos. The game was tied for four minutes and then Collen struck for his second goal when the team was shorthanded. Collen's seventh goal of the year was assisted by Harrie and Galt who finished with a pair of assists in the game.
Collen then completed the five straight Concordia goals when he put home a wraparound at 15:01. His eighth goal of the year gave CC a 5-3 lead and completely deflated the Tommies attack.
St. Thomas was able to mount a couple of sustained offensive sequences in the final five minutes but didn't connect on the final goal of the game until the last second of play when Johnson scored his fourth goal of the year.
The Tommies ended up outshooting Concordia 30-27 in the game. Cobber goalie Jacob Vatnsdal made 26 saves to earn his fourth victory of the year. Deichert turned aside 22 shots for UST but was saddled with his second loss of the season.
Both teams had one power play goal in the game. The Cobbers also posted a shorthanded score as well. CC was 1-for-4 on the power play while St. Thomas scored one goal on their three power play attempts.
The two teams will finish off the two-game series on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.
