Box Score As much as they have to travel, one could hardly blame the Concordia men's hockey team if they prefer to try out Hamline goalie Justin Quale somewhere other than the Moorhead Sports Center in the future. The sophomore was sharp all weekend in an arena where he seems to always play well. On Friday, he kicked out a career high 47 shots to help the Pipers earn a point in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Cobbers. On Saturday, he had fewer saves (26) but many of them were first rate as HU gained a much needed 4-2 victory to move past the Cobbers into fourth place with a 4-3-1 MIAC mark, 7-6-3 overall. 

Russ Jordan, Jaycob McCombs, Jesse Kessler and Brandon Reinholz provided the offense for HU, which held a 33-28 edge in shots on goal Saturday. 

Jordan scored his league leading 12th goal at 14:35 of the first period to give the Pipers an early lead. McCombs finished off a three-way play to make it 2-0 in the second period but CC stirred the home folks to life with a shorthanded goal in the waning seconds of the period. 

Kessler gave the Pipers a little breathing room with his fifth of the season in the first minute of the third period. Things, however, tightened up quickly as CC replied with a marker of its own in the next minute. For the next 17 minutes or so, CC attacked relentlessly and Quale kept them at bay, recording 10 saves. Reinholz finally put an end to the drama when he took a pass from Mitch Hall and deposited the puck into an empty net to seal the deal and ensure the four hour bus ride home wouldn't seem so long. 

As for Quale, he has now played three games for HU at Moorhead Sports Center. In addition to this weekend, he was in goal when Hamline blanked Concordia, 3-0, in a first round MIAC playoff game last February. His totals for his time on the ice in Moorhead: 185 minutes, three goals allowed, 103 saves. That figures out to a goals-against average of 0.97 and a save percentage of .972. 

The Pipers take on St. Mary's next weekend. Friday, January 20 will see the team face off in Winona with a return match set for Saturday, January 21 at Oscar Johnson Arena. Both games start at 7:00 p.m.