Eastern Excellence

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (11/25/16)—For the third straight game in the past three years Concordia has loved the East Coast. The Cobbers won the prestigious PrimeLink Shootout played in Vermont in 2014 and on Friday they used two goals in each of the first and second periods to beat No.11-ranked Plattsburgh State 4-3.

Concordia is now 3-0 in games played in the PrimeLink tournament which features the top teams in the East. The tournament, hosted by perennial Division III powers Plattsburgh State, Middlebury and Norwich only invites one team to the tournament each year.    

The Cobbers felt right at home playing in front of a crowd of 1,697 in Plattsburg. Concordia bolted to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Jon Grebosky and Dalton Mills.

Grebosky opened the scoring at 5:29 by beating a Plattsburgh defender around the right wing at the faceoff circle. Grebosky then turned the corner and fired a shot that trickled through the Cardinal goalie's pads. Freshman Tanner Okeson picked up the assist on Grebosky's first goal of the year.

Mills had the biggest "snipe" of the night on the Cobbers' second goal of the first period. He received the puck just inside the Plattsburgh blue line and then snapped a shot into the top shelf just inside the right post. The goal at 17:50 was of the unassisted variety and was Mills' team-leading fifth nugget of the year.

The nationally ranked Cardinals showed their pedigree at the start of the second period. They netted three goals in a span of less than six minutes to take a 3-2 lead. The last two goals of the streak came on the power play and it appeared that Concordia's eastern magic would run out.

The Cobbers weathered the early second-period storm and then won the game with two goals 4:18 apart starting at 12:08.

Jordan Krebsbach hammered a shot from the middle of the blue line on the power play to tie the game at 3-3. Jeremy Johnson and Garrett Hendrickson were credited with the assists on Krebsbach's first goal of the year.

The game-winning goal came at 16:26 when Hendrickson took control of the puck after a pass from Krebsbach on the left side of the goal just above the goal line. He took one look at the goal and then hammered a slapshot which caught the far corner of the net. 

The third period was a mostly defensive affair with the Cobbers content to keep the Cardinals on the edge trying to make shots from outside.

The best chance of the period came after the midway point when Plattsburgh combined on a passing play and fired the puck across the goal to an open attacker on the right post. His one-timed shot was stopped by Sam Nelson who went post-to-pot to make a brilliant game-saving stop.
Plattsburgh outshot Concordia 28-20 in the game. Nelson made 25 saves to earn his second collegiate win. Zach Doerring, Mario Bianchi and Hendrickson all had three shots to lead CC.

MR. ASSIST: Senior captain Jeremy Johnson has let his teammates get the glory this season. Johnson has been happy to set up his teammates on goal after goal. Johnson had the assist on Krebsbach on the game-tying goal. The helper was Johnson's seventh of the season which leads Concordia. Johnson also leads CC in total points with seven as all of his points have come via the assist. Johnson is currently sixth in the MIAC in assists.

POWER , POWER, POWER: Concordia went 1-for-4 on the power play against the Cardinals and has now potted one power play goal in five straight games. CC is 7-for-32 (21.9%) on the man-advantage this year which is second in the MIAC.       

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will play No.13-ranked Norwich on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m. in the championship game of the PrimeLink Shootout. Norwich beat Middlebury 3-2 in overtime in the other semifinal game on Friday.