ACHA Throttles Titans in Late-Night Showdown

MEQUON, Wis. - The CUW ACHA hockey team improved to 5-2-1 on its 2023-24 campaign, downing the UW-Oshkosh Titans by a dominant 8-1 victory that featured goals from six different Falcons. The triumph marked the squad's second win over the Titans in as many days, having beaten them 12-4 in a road contest just a day prior.

Senior Ian Malcolmson (Waukesha, Wis.) opened the scoring at 2:34, notching his seventh goal of the season off of a feed from freshman Michael Sobczak (Wood Dale, Ill.). The goal proved to be a major spark to a Falcons team that had only struck first in three of its first seven games, as the Falcons would tally another goal just 35 seconds later. Concordia's second goal would be scored by senior Rex Staudacher (Yorkville, Ill.) on the power play as part of a unit that would operate at 60% on the night, scoring on three of its five chances on the man advantage.

Trent Bachman put the puck in the net just a few minutes later for UW-Oshkosh, effectively cutting the Falcons' lead in half before searching for the equalizer as the first period played out. Freshman goalie Fred Roufs (Sioux Falls, S.D.) would stand tall to retain the lead for the Falcons, picking up eight saves over the remainder of the first period. Roufs would finish with 19 saves on 20 shots to post a .950 save percentage in his first career start.

The second period proved to be the calm before the storm, as junior Tommy Cassel (Grafton, Wis.) registered the period's lone goal for Concordia after the Falcons killed a deluge of penalties in the minutes prior. Staudacher would pick up the second of his game-leading three points on the assist.

The Falcons would dominate all aspects of the game in the third period, outscoring the Titans 5-0 on goals from five different skaters. Cassel would pick up his second tally, and seniors Lukas Krueser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), John Swiatek (Rochester, N.Y.), and Trenton Sherman (Farmington, Minn.) would all register goals of their own. Freshman Chuck Emme (Glenview, Ill.) would tally his team-leading thirteenth goal of the season in the final minute of play, scoring the team's third power-play goal to bring the game's final score to 8-1.

Coupled with Thursday night's results, Concordia outdueled UW-Oshkosh by a 20-5 margin, an impressive performance that the team will look to carry momentum from into its upcoming back-to-back with Lindenwood, beginning on Saturday, November 4.