SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Concordia Wisconsin men's ice hockey team dropped a 6–5 overtime decision to Gustavus Adolphus in a high-scoring showdown on Friday night. The contest marked the Falcons' first overtime game of the season, with their last coming in the Harris Cup Quarterfinals against St. Norbert a season ago.
 
The Falcons struck first just under 10 minutes into the opening period. Sophomore Connor Van Weelie (Mississauga, Ont.) finished a passing sequence from sophomore Jack Guvenal (Georgetown, Ont.) and junior Matt Koepke (Vernon Hills, Ill.) to give CUW an early 1–0 lead. Gustavus responded late, however, scoring twice in the final three minutes of the period to take a 2–1 advantage into the first intermission.
 
Concordia answered quickly in the second, tying the game just 1:50 into the period. Sophomore Levi Carter (Keremeos, B.C.) intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and sent the puck ahead to senior Noah Roitman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), who carried it into the offensive zone and found sophomore Evan Forrest (Spruce Grove, Alta.) for the equalizer.
 
CUW regained the lead shortly thereafter as Derek Humphreys connected with Carter, who then found Van Weelie near the crease for his second goal of the night, making it 3–2. The Falcons added another at the 6:12 mark of the period when junior Sawyer Wirsing (Arundel, Maine) buried a feed from junior Elowan Orme-Lynch (Paris, France) for his first goal of the season.
 
Gustavus countered with three goals later in the second period to reclaim momentum and take a 5–4 lead into the final intermission.
 
The Falcons opened the third period by tying the game at five. Following an interference penalty against the Gusties, Carter scored on the power play with assists from Van Weelie and Humphreys. CUW held firm through the remainder of regulation to force overtime.
 
Gustavus ultimately netted the game-winner in overtime to secure the victory.
 
Sophomore goaltender Cameron Hrdlicka (Calgary, Alta.) made 21 saves for the Falcons, finishing with a .778 save percentage. Defensively, freshman Easton Penna (Coboconk, Ont.) and Guvenal each recorded two blocked shots.
 
Van Weelie and Forrest paced the CUW offense with four shots on goal apiece.
 
The Falcons will look to bounce back in the series finale against Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Saint Peter, Minn.