MOORHEAD, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's hockey team battled Concordia-Moorhead to a 1-1 tie through two periods Saturday evening, but the Cobbers scored twice in the third to hand the Saints a 3-1 defeat. St. Scholastica fell to 0-5-0 on the season, while Concordia improved to 1-2-0.
Concordia opened the scoring at the 5:43 mark of the first period when Carson Triggs found the net, assisted by Isaac Baker and Tucker Skime.
The Saints responded less than two minutes later. Andrew Cumming (St. Cloud, MN/St. Cloud HS) scored his first goal of the season at 7:30, with Wyatt Wurst (Edina, MN/Edina HS) picking up his fifth assist of the year to even the score at 1-1.
St. Scholastica held an 11-8 advantage in shots during the opening period and carried that pressure into the second, outshooting Concordia 10-4. The Saints also earned three power-play opportunities in the middle frame, including one with just over 40 seconds remaining, but were unable to break the deadlock.
The game remained tied entering the final period, when Concordia began to take control of the shot count. The Cobbers generated 18 shots in the third after managing just 12 through the first two periods.
Ryan Roethke broke the tie at 12:14 of the third, scoring his second goal of the season off assists from Kaleb Pitman and Baker. Just 2:28 later, Jackson Lucia extended Concordia's lead to 3-1, with Triggs and Jack Hanson earning assists.
The Saints faced additional challenges late in the game when Gavin Gunderson (Roseau, MN/Roseau HS) was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for cross-checking at 16:12. Concordia was unable to add to its lead on the ensuing power play, and the game finished 3-1.
St. Scholastica goaltender Eino Rissanen (Sonvillier, Switzerland/Lycée Blaise-Cendrars) made 27 saves, including 16 in the third period. Concordia's Noel Olsonawski stopped 25 shots to earn the victory.
The Cobbers finished with a 30-26 advantage in shots, while the Saints held a 37-28 edge in faceoffs. Jan Jyvasjarvi (Espoo, Finland/) led St. Scholastica with nine faceoff wins, while Braden Panzer (Grand Forks, ND/Grand Forks Central HS) added eight and Riley Girod (Calvet, SK, Canada/) won seven of his nine draws.
Neither team converted on the power play, with the Saints finishing 0-for-4 and Concordia also going 0-for-4.
