(Chelsea, MI) - The Concordia Cardinals Women's Hockey team concluded their season opening weekend series with a contest on Sunday afternoon against the Penn State Ice Lions.
The Cardinals picked up two goals late in the 3rd period to close the gap on Penn State, but the Ice Lions would hold on for an eventual 4-3 win to split the weekend series.
1st Period - CUAA 1, PSU 1
The Cardinals developed momentum early and often in the contest, drawing a penalty just 3:37 into the contest and fired four shots on goal during the ensuing power play. While the 5-on-4 advantage didn't result in a score, the Cards wouldn't stay off the board for long, as Sydney Schuyler intercepted a breakout pass and fired a puck passed the goalie from the point to give Concordia the early 1-0 lead.
CUAA continued to press throughout the remainder of the period, finishing the opening frame with 20 shots on goal, but could not find the back of the net again during the first 20 minutes. Penn State would eventually take advantage of the strong play in net by their goalie, scoring with just over 2 minutes to go in the first period to knot the score at 1 going into the intermission.
2nd Period - PSU 2, CUAA 1
The second period tightened up in the defensive zone, with both sides preventing a large amount of shots and the flow of the game possessing a lot more back-and-forth play. After killing a penalty a few minutes earlier, the Cards would be back on the kill with less than four minutes remaining in the frame, and with 2:57 to go in the period the Ice Lions converted again, picking up a goal on the advantage to take their first lead lead of the weekend into the second break.
3rd Period - PSU 4, CUAA 3
Penn State came out of the break flying, picking up a score just over a mintue into the final frame to double their lead. A few minutes later, the Ice Lions would score again on a rush to extend their lead to a convincing 3 goals with just 14:13 to go in the matchup. The Cardinals would be given life after a Penn State major penalty led to a 5-minute powerplay, however, and CUAA would take advantage when Madelyne Petrie stepped into the zone and fired a long shot from the left side that snuck past the goalie's glove and went just over the goal line to cut the deficit to 2. Dakota Harmon picked up an assist on the score.
Concordia continued to pepper the Penn State net minder, finishing with 18 shots in the period, while goalie Amanda Crundwell stood tall in net, making a number of big saves to keep the Cards in the contest. After pulling the goalie with just under 90 seconds to go, CUAA would inch even closer to the comeback when Regan Tolley (assisted by Emma Shore) picked up a loose puck in front and found the back of the net to make it a 4-3 game with just 1:12 remaining. After a PSU timeout, the Cardinals kept the pressure up with hopes of finding the game tying goal, but the Ice Lions would do just enough to hold off and secure the 4-3 final score victory.
Crundwell started in goal once again for the Cardinals, playing all but 16 seconds in the contest and making 30 saves on 34 shots faced.
The Cardinals are back in action this upcoming Thursday when they host the Adrian Bulldogs at the Arctic Coliseum in another CCWHA East Pod matchup. Puck drop is set for 8pm in Chelsea, MI.
