(Chelsea, MI) – The Concordia men's hockey team took on the 19th-ranked Aquinas Saints Thursday afternoon in a rematch of their series from the weekend prior. The sides played a back and forth battle, and the Cardinals eventually came out with a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime
The Cardinals struck first, just one minute into the contest, as Derek Hebner sent a pass to Quinn Bieniek, who drove the net and fed Brandon Troyer in front through a sea of traffic, and Troyer was able to finish the job to get CUAA out to a 1-0 lead. Aquinas didn't stay quiet long, however, responding with a goal less than a minute later to knot the game up at one.
The opening frame continued as a back and forth battle, with both sides getting open opportunities in high quality areas of the ice. Just 5 seconds after an Aquinas penalty ended, Concordia jumped back in front, as Tyler Groth ripped a slapshot to the bottom left corner of the net to give the Cardinals the lead back. Tristan Waechter and Hunter Kepple picked up helpers on the goal.
Aquinas bounced back with another quick goal with 2:37 to go in the first period, and the game would go to break knotted at 2 a piece. The Saints started the second period in control, too, scoring a goal at the 13:44 mark and eventually outshooting the Cardinals 23 to 6 in the frame.
Concordia would not go away in the second, however, as Tyler Bieniek took a feed from Kyle Hebner and sniped the Saints goalie to knot the game back up at 3 with 9:05 to go in the middle period. The pressure continued, too, as the Cardinals went on an odd man rush during a powerplay in the second, leading to a beautiful tik-tac-toe passing play that resulted in an Abel Christians goal. Hunter Kepple and Carson Ediger were the assisters on the score. The frame would end at that score, as CUAA carried a 4-3 lead going into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
The last period resulted in a bit of a slower pace, but the opportunities did not slow down for either side, as each goaltender stood on their head to keep the score at a 4-3 margin. While the Saints were held off the board for the first 19 and a half minutes of the final frame, they would final connect on a puck scramble out in front of the net with 26 seconds remaining in regulation. The score would send the game to a deciding overtime period with the game knotted at 4.
In overtime is where Concordia would officially finish the job. After holding off some Aquinas pressure in the defensive zone, Tristan Waechter took the puck into the offensive zone that went wide, but the puck rebounded to the open slot on the right side of the net, where Tyler Groth took a one timer and beat the Saints goalie for the game winning score. Hunter Kepple and Waechter picked up assists on the goal.
Elijah Gibbons started in the net for Concordia, putting on one of the most impressive showings in program history with 53 saves on the way to the overtime victory.
The Cardinals will return to the west side of the state when they take on Grand Valley State on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 8pm at the Griff's Georgetown in Hudsonville, MI.
