(Howell, MI) – The Concordia men's hockey team hit the road to conclude their weekend series against the Cleary Cougars Saturday evening. In a tight battle that was either tied or within a goal difference for 59:22 of the contest, the Cardinals emerged triumphant, winning 5-4.
Anthony Seykora started in net for the Cardinals, making 21 saves in the winning effort.
The Cards got on the man advantage early in the contest and were able to jump on the opportunity, as Brandon Troyer finished on the powerplay to give CUAA the 1-0 lead just 4:15 into the opening frame. Kyle Hebner and Quinn Bieniek picked up helpers on the goal.
The Cougars bounced back with a powerplay goal of their own just over the halfway mark in the period to tie the game at 1. That would be all in terms of scoring for the remainder of the frame, as the score would stay level going into the first intermission.
Concordia played the 2nd period on the attack, firing 20 total shots on net throughout the middle frame, and were able to strike at the 12:05 mark when Carson Ediger took a pass from Nicholas Twombley and fed Kyle Hebner in the slot, who was able to redirect the puck into the top right corner of the net, putting CUAA back on top.
Another powerplay chance gave Cleary life, however, as the Cougars scored with 7:05 to go in the period to knot the score up at 2. Both goalies would once again stand firm the rest of the frame, securing a deadlock at 2 goals apiece heading into the 2nd break.
The final period was full of action, and it did not take long for the Cards to get involved, as Shane Romback scored (assists from Kyle Hebner and Carson Ediger) under 4 minutes into the final frame to make it a 3-2 advantage for Concordia. Cleary struck back just over halfway into the 3rd period however, converting short handed to tie the game at 3.
Concordia would once again jump into the lead, this time with under 3 minutes to play when Bryce Iott scored the go-ahead goal on the powerplay (assists Seth Francois and Shane Romback) following a pair of Cleary penalties. Iott wouldn't stay off the scoresheet long after, scoring once again with just 1:45 to go, doubling the CUAA lead with the eventual game winning goal (assists Romback and Ediger).
Cleary struck back on the powerplay with just over a minute remaining, but would be unable to muster up the tying goal as the clock hit 0's, and the Cardinals earned a hard fought 5-4 win to secure a weekend sweep.
Concordia will be back in action next Friday, October 28th, when they head to Fraser, MI to take on the Rochester Warriors in another WHAC series. Puck drop is set for 3:30pm at Big Boy Arena.
