MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin men's hockey team broke out the brooms for the first time this season, completing a weekend sweep of Dubuque with a 4-2 victory on Saturday. The win pulls the Falcons back to .500 at 5-5-0 overall and 4-4-0 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play.
Concordia set the tone early, burying three goals in a dominant first period.
Freshman Easton Penna (Coboconk, Ontario) opened the scoring just minutes in, firing home a shot from the near circle off feeds from classmates Cooper Brown (Airdrie, Alberta) and Matt Green (Barrie, Ontario).
Four minutes later, senior Derek Humphreys (Spokane, Wash.) picked off a pass, sprinted the length of the ice, and delivered the Falcons' second shorthanded goal in as many days.
Junior Alex Ochitwa (Prince George, Ontario) pushed the lead to 3-0 late in the period, charging the net after a faceoff win by sophomore Connor Van Weelie (Mississauga, Ontario).
Dubuque battled back in the second period, tilting the ice with a 15-4 shots-on-goal advantage, but sophomore goaltender Cameron Hrdlicka (Calgary, Alberta) stood tall to keep the Spartans off the board.
Concordia added insurance early in the third when Matt Green ripped home his second goal of the weekend, capitalizing on a clean faceoff win from sophomore Evan Forrest (Spruce Grove, Alberta).
The Spartans finally broke through on a five-on-three power play and added another goal in the closing seconds, but the Falcons held firm to secure the sweep.
Dubuque finished with a 47-26 edge in shots, but Hrdlicka was the difference, posting a stellar 45-save performance. The Falcons also blocked 16 shots, with freshman Pier-Olivier Allard (Quebec City, Quebec) leading the way with four.
This marks Concordia's first weekend sweep since January at Hamline and its first home weekend sweep since Feb. 5–6, 2021, when the Falcons took two games from St. Scholastica.
Concordia closes out the semester next weekend on the road at Gustavus Adolphus.