(Canton, MI) - The Concordia men's hockey team was returned to the ice Friday night to host the 15th-ranked Indiana Tech Warriors at the Arctic Edge in Canton. CUAA took the lead in the first, but Indiana Tech would find answers in the 2nd and 3rd to take the contest, 3-1.
Zachary Janis started in net for the Cardinals, making 37 saves on 39 shots faced in the game.
The game was fast paced, back-and-forth hockey from the drop, and the Cardinals would get a pair of big opportunities early in the contest when they drew two penaltiesin the opening 8 minutes and change of play. Unable to convert on the first, CUAA was back on the attack in their second man advantage, when Nick Twombley found Kyle Hebner, who fired a low shot off the far pad of the Warriors netminder, and forced a rebound that popped out to Quinn Bieniek in the slot, who ripped a shot into the back of the net to give Concordia the lead just under 9 minutes into the matchup.
Despite more opportunities for both sides in a period where Indiana Tech held the shot advantage 14-7, both goalies stood firm, and the score remained 1-0 going into the first intermission.
Indiana Tech came out firing in the 2nd period as they started the frame on the powerplay, but once again it was a story of the netminders, as neither side could convert in the first 19 minutes of play. With just 55 seconds to go in the period, however, the Warriors would get on the board with a shot from the point that made it through a pair of screens, and the score was knotted at a goal apiece going into the second break.
The Warriors would get the best opportunity of the game when they went on a 5-minute powerplay early in the final frame, but Concordia would get the best chance on the IIT man advantage, as Jackson Blough would intercept a Warrior pass and go in on a breakaway, but was stopped as his shot just knicked the Indiana Tech goaltender. Soon after the conclusion of the Warrior powerplay, the guests would take their first lead of the game as a low shot made it through a group of bodies in front of the Concordia net and into the goal, making it 2-1 for Indiana Tech.
Concordia would continue to push and applied pressure with an array of odd man rushes and shots on goal in the final minutes of the game, but with just under 2 minutes to go the Warriors put the game on ice with an empty net goal, concluding the contest with a 3-1 victory.
Concordia will be back in action tomorrow, November 5th when they head to Fort Wayne, IN for a rematch with the #15 Warriors. Puck drop is set for 5:30pm at the SportONE/Parkview Ice House.
