Concordia loses 4-0 lead in third period

It was a sweet homecoming for former Moorhead High School standout Scott Bjorklund, and a very bitter one for the Concordia Cobbers.

Bjorklund -- playing on the same ice he starred on with the Spuds -- scored a third-period goal and added an assist as St. John's erased a four-goal deficit for a 5-4 overtime victory at the Moorhead Sports Center on Saturday.

"That was just a crazy game," Bjorklund said. "We were kind of mad in the locker room (after the second period). But we didn't get down on ourselves, we knew that we had the ability to come back."

Bjorklund's final-period tally ignited a furious St. John's rally in which the Johnnies scored four times in the final 18 minutes of play.

Bryan Talbot tied the game with seven seconds left in regulation before Joel Starke etched the game-winner 15 ticks into overtime.

The heart-breaking defeat couldn't have come at a worse time for the Cobbers, who have lost four straight.

"I think after we got the big lead we kind of sat back and stopped doing the things that got us the lead," said Concordia coach Steve Baumgartner, whose team fell to the Johnnies 9-3 on Friday night.

"We may have relaxed a little bit and that happens sometimes."

The series sweep moves St. John's into sole possession of first place in the MIAC at 6-0, while Concordia drops to fourth at 4-4.

"We're starting to pull away from the pack," Starke said. "It was huge for us to come in here and get four points this weekend."

While Bjorklund and St. John's had the last laugh, it looked as if another ex-Spud would be the star early.

Sophomore goaltender Dave Gess made 26 saves and held the conference's highest scoring team to one goal through two periods.

Gess thwarted three breakaway attempts, including a point-blank stop on his former teammate in the first period that rekindled memories of past practices on the same rink.

"I tried to make a move, but I'm sure he's seen me do it

100 times before," Bjorklund said. "He stoned me."

Said Gess: "I had it in the back of my mind the whole time. I got him there, but he got me back with his tip-in later."

Gess made a career-high

37 saves in his second career start.

Antonio Castaneda and Matt Hansen recorded back-to-back goals in the first period as Concordia built a 4-0 lead in the first 24 minutes.

"We just have to get back to work," Baumgartner said. "There's still a lot of season left and we can still be successful. We just have to rebound."

FIRST PERIOD: 1, CC, Castaneda (Vlasek, Peterson) 17:48. 2, CC, Hansen (Ronning), 18:43.

SECOND PERIOD: 3, CC, Johnson (Notermann), 1:21. 4, CC, Styba (Peterson, Marsh), 4:12. 5, SJ, Langenbrunner (Starke, Lundblad), 10:34.

THIRD PERIOD: 6, SJ, Bjorklund (Holmgren, Talbot), 2:38. 7, SJ, Talbot (Langenbrunner, Smoleroff), 16:30. 8, SJ, Talbot (Taylor, Bjorklund), 19:53.

OVERTIME: 9, SJ, Starke (Willey), 0:15.

Goalie Saves: SJ, Gregory 10-3-8-0--21, Gornick x-8-x-x--8. CC, Gess 11-15-10-1--37.