ELMHURST, Ill. – Concordia University Wisconsin found the back of the net early and often on Wednesday afternoon and Colin Raley scored a career-high six goals during a convincing 16-3 non-conference victory over Elmhurst College.
Raley opened the game with a marker just over a minute after the initial faceoff and added three more before halftime, which saw the Falcons leading by a commanding 11-0 count. They added another goal two minutes into the second half before the Bluejays tallied their first goal.
CUW (1-2) snapped a two-game skid and controlled every facet of the contest, including a 27-12 shots on goal difference. They also won 16-of-22 faceoffs, forced 18 turnovers and were successful on 13-of-16 clears. The Falcons also finished 2-for-3 on extra-man opportunities.
While Raley (sophomore, Inverness, Ill.) was torching the net, which was tied for the third best scoring game in program history, senior David Mueller (Prior Lake, Minn.) had himself a career game with six points (three goals, career-high three assists). Junior Matt Garvey (Winnipeg, Manitoba) added eight assists, which is tied for the eighth most in a single game in program history.
Junior Zachary Foster (Calgary, Alberta) also scored twice and five other Falcons helped in the scoring column. Freshman Jaeden Gilles (Nanaimo, British Columbia) scored his first career goal with six minutes to play in the third quarter.
Junior Thomas Mueller (Prior Lake, Minn.) played into the third quarter and made six saves before giving way to freshman Jacob Murnane (Milwaukee, Wis.) who saw action between the pipes for the first time in his career and made three saves. Sophomore Matthew Erickson (Antioch, Ill.) also played the last five minutes and 29 seconds. Junior Danny Bundra (Lake Zurich, Ill.)) controlled the faceoff circle by winning 16-of-21 attempts, to go along with 10 ground balls.
Three different Bluejays scored in the contest, with Mal Euson recording the teams only assist. Nick Bonastia made 11 saves during a complete game effort and picked up six ground balls, Tyler Dailey won five faceoffs.
CUW will continue its four-game road trip with a 4 pm contest at Carthage College on Saturday.
