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ST. PAUL, Minn. (12/4/09)-- Concordia showed the rust of not having played in two weeks as the conceded a pair of first-period goals and fell to Bethel 3-2 in Blaine, Minn. on Friday. The Cobbers rallied to tie the game in the second period but then the Royals scored the game-winning goal with 6:26 to play in the third and hung on for the victory.

The loss is the second straight for the Cobbers who fall to 4-4-0 on the year overall and 1-2-0 in the MIAC. Bethel wins for the first time all season and moves to 1-6-0 in all games and 1-2-0 in league play.

The game might have been decided in the first 6:04 of the opening period. That's when the Royals took advantage of the slow start by CC and scored two goals. During that time, BU had seven shots on goal. They would have only six more the rest of the frame as Concordia was slapped in the face with a two-goal alarm clock. Both goals were even strength and both came after Cobber goalie Maddie Haroldson made a pair of saves right before.

Concordia would get to within one before the break. Kayla Hendrickson notched her third goal of the year at 7:02 on assists from Katelyn Dold and Jenna Westerham. For Dold it would be the first of two assists on the night. Both teams posted 13 shots in the opening period but neither team could score in the final 12 minutes of the frame.

The Cobbers tied the score in the first minute of the second period. Westerham picked up her fourth goal of the year just :57 seconds into the period. Dold was given the only assist on the play. There would only be 13 more shots in the period from that point forward for both teams. CC misfired on one power play attempt in the middle 20 minutes and BU was stopped on their three man-advantage situations.

The game went back and forth in the third period until Bethel got the game winner at the 13:34 mark on a goal by Paige Lemieux. The Cobbers had pumped three shots on goal right before the BU score but were unable to come up with the go-ahead goal before the Royals broke free and scored.

In the end, the two teams each had 34 shots on goal in the game. Haroldson made 31 saves for Concordia while Bethel goalie Jess Newstrom stopped 32 shots to pick up her first win of the year.

The two teams will square off on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. in the series finale.