MOORHEAD, Minn. – Despite trailing 6-3 with four minutes to play, the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team made a game of it, scoring two goals in the final minutes to bring themselves within one. However, their opponent held strong and the Gusties eventually fell by a 6-5 count to Concordia College on Saturday at Moorhead Sports Center. The loss drops Gustavus to 7-8-4 overall and 6-3-3 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers improve to 10-8-1 overall and 8-4-0 in the league.
In a high-scoring game that featured two rare hockey lead-changes, the Cobbers scored goals one and three, while the Gusties scored goals two and four through the first period and a half of play, tying the game at 2-2 with 3:56 to play in the second period. Rachel Skoglund (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) and Marina Chapman (Fy., South Haven, Minn.) earned the first two Gustavus goals off assists from Allie Stanger (Fy., Paynesville, Minn.) and Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.), respectively.
Emily Reibert (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) gave the Gusties their first lead of the game at 3-2 with her third goal of the season at the 17:28 mark of the second period on Eder-Zdechlik’s second assist of the day. However, the Cobbers took advantage of the remaining time left on the clock and tied the game at 3-3 going into the third period when Cobber forward Hannah Johnston scored her third goal of the season at 19:16.
That goal seemed to light a fire under the home squad, and Concordia dominated the scoring for the first three-quarters of the final period, notching three goals to bring its lead to 6-3 with just under five minutes to play. However, Eder-Zdechlik gave herself a point hat trick with a goal at 16:18 to pull the Gusties to within two, and Erica Power (So., Lakeville, Minn.) scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:18 remaining to thrash the Cobber lead to 6-5 with time still left to tie. Unfortunately for Gustavus, an Eder-Zdechlik shot at 19:19 was saved by Cobber goalie Andrea Klug, and the Cobbers were able to escape with the 6-5 win.
Gustavus outshot Concordia 29-26, including a 14-6 tally in the third period. Amanda DiNella (Fy., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.) suffered the loss between the pipes for the Gusties after allowing three goals in her 40 minutes of play and making 17 saves.
The Gusties are back in action next weekend with a home-away series against Saint Mary’s University. Game one is scheduled for Friday evening in Winona, with faceoff set for 7 p.m.