(Fort Wayne, IN) – The Concordia men's hockey team hit the road to take on the 25th-ranked and #4 seed Lawrence Tech Blue Devils in the WHAC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday evening. The game resulted in another back-and-forth battle that ended on a Tyler Groth golden goal in sudden death overtime to win the game 5-4 and move the Cardinals into the semifinals.
The Cards started the game with a lot of momentum, drawing four penalties in the opening period and outshooting the Blue Devils 14-6. LTU took advantage of an early opportunity, however, scoring on an odd man rush to take a 1-0 lead, which they would carry into the first intermission.
Lawrence Tech jumped on the Cardinals just a minute into the second period to double their advantage. Concordia responded less than three minutes later, however, as Tyler Bieniek took a pass from Jacob Culp behind the net, walked out into the slot, and sniped into the top right corner to cut their defecit in half.
In the spirit of the back-and-forth period, LTU scored less than three minutes later to make the score 3-1 at the 13:25 mark in the middle frame. Concordia answered again, though, when Thomas Hendry would finish on an odd man rush for the Cardinals' second goal of the night. Abel Christians picked up an assist on the score.
Tyler Bieniek got on the board again for CUAA late in the 2nd, receiving a feed from Derek Hebner back door, which he would tap into the back of the net to tie the game at 3. The score would stay that way at the end of the period, with both teams knotted up heading into the break.
Concordia would record their third straight tally in the final period of regulation, as Derek Hebner took a feed from Hunter Kepple in the slot and beat the goalie to the low left corner of the net to give the Cardinals their first lead of the contest. Less than 45 seconds later, though, the Blue Devils scored again to tie the game at 4. The rest of the period would go back and forth with chances, including a breakaway for LTU with 45 seconds left that starting goaltender Anthony Seykora stopped, but neither side could score, forcing the game into overtime.
CUAA would pick up a penalty just 30 seconds into the sudden death period, but the Cardinals killed it off with efficiency and pushed the game along. Eventually, LTU picked up a penalty of their own, and just 31 seconds into the powerplay, Tyler Groth picked up a lose puck and fired a slapshot through a forest of bodies in front of the Blue Devil goal into the back of the net, securing the victory for Concordia at the 11:21 mark of the overtime frame.
The Cards outshot the Blue Devils 7-4 in the overtime and 40-29 over the course of the game. Seykora made 25 saves in net during the winning effort.
The Cardinals will be back in action tomorrow afternoon against the 1st-seed Indiana Tech Warriors in a WHAC semifinal contest. Puck drop is set for 3pm at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse in Fort Wayne, IN.
About the Warriors
The Warriors finished this regular season off with a 24-4-2 record and a 15-3-2 record within the WHAC, good enough to be ranked #10 in the nation and 1st in the conference. IIT started their season by splitting a pair of non-conference games against Davenport and defeating Grand Valley State. Indiana Tech also picked up another win over GVSU in December, opened their spring semester with a series sweep in the I-69 Cup against the Western Michigan Stallions, and swept Calvin College in a pair of close games in late January. The Warriors also received two forfeit victories in nonconference contests against Rochester to conclude their Fall Semester.
On the offensive end, Indiana Tech has been led by a Joel Holmberg (38 points) and Cam Chabot (33), who each have recorded over 30 points on the year. Four Warriors have recorded double digit goals on the season, as Holmberg (22 goals), Zach Bennett (16), Cam Chabot (13), and Cole Barney (10). Chabot is the team leader in assists with 20.
Three goalies have split time in net for Indiana Tech this season, with Braedyn Funke (10 starts) and Ty Barnhill (17) each recording double digit starts on the year. Barnhill leads the team with a 2.04 goals against average, .891 save percentage, and has started in net for all 4 shutouts by the Warriors this season.
