DUBUQUE, Iowa -- Concordia-Chicago fell 9-6 to the University of Dubuque this afternoon, after controlling the game's momentum for the majority of the contest. The Spartans shut out CUC during the first and fourth quarters, to stage a late comeback in the fourth.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Dubuque out shot CUC 46-31 on the day.
- Over 60 minutes of play, the Cougars had eight extra-man opportunities but were able to capitalize on just one of them.
- Boston Dumas was near perfect from the face off circle, winning 15-of-17 face offs.
The contest got off to a slow start, with the Spartans managing to ice the Cougars in the opening frame of play. With the shut out quarter, Dubuque was able to open up with a 2-0 lead.
Concordia-Chicago came alive in the second quarter, as Dumas scored unassisted to cut the Spartan lead in half.
Less than 30 seconds later, Dumas won the very next face off and dashed the ball off to
Hunter Combe, who was able to convert the equalizing goal.
As the quarter progressed, the Cougars' offense stayed strong. CUC successfully cleared the ball and called a timeout to draw up a play in the offensive zone, with five minutes to go in the half. From there,
Brett Krueger passed the ball off
Jordan Loeffler who nailed the ball past Dubuque's netminder and gave CUC its first lead of the day.
In a matter of seconds,
Mateo Saputo dodged several defenders and scored himself an unassisted goal, while handing CUC a solid 4-2 lead.
Dubuque threatened the Cougars' lead at the end of the half, as the Spartans out shot CUC 27-16 during the 30 minutes of action.
Jack Liskey came up clutch down the stretch though, stopping several close range shots that allowed CUC to head into the halftime break with a 4-3 lead. After the first half, Liskey already had 10 saves on the day.
Two minutes into the third quarter, the Spartans would tie up the game. However, a little while later Dumas found Krueger and regained a 5-4 lead for Concordia-Chicago.
As the quarter came to a close, CUC earned a man-up opportunity from a Spartan's offsides foul. With the chance, Dumas wasted no time finding Combe, who was creeping towards the crease, as Combe dumped in the high pass right behind Dubuque's goalie.
Despite having the two-goal lead again, Dubuque forced the ball downfield to fire right back and keep the game close, trailing just 6-5 heading into the final quarter of play.
With 10 to go in regulation, the Spartans earned one minute of man-up opportunities thanks to two 30-second CUC penalties. While having a minute of foul time to work with, Dubuque capitalized swiftly, tying the game back up just seconds into the extra-man chance.
After their sixth goal, Dubuque forced a CUC turnover and called a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Spartans were quick to answer by scoring and taking back the lead for the first time since the first quarter of play.
Once the Spartans took the lead, they never looked back. Over the final nine minutes of play, Dubuque tacked on two more goals and stole the 9-6 victory.
The Cougars will return home this weekend for MLC play against Marian on Saturday at 2 p.m.
