Late Comeback Falls Short
The Eagles had a tough time figuring out Lancer goalie Austen Ramer, who finished with 15 saves and came away with steals at crucial points in the game to stave off the CUI comeback.
Concordia falls to 24-5, while California Baptist improves to 22-6.
The Lancers held a 5-1 lead by halftime, thanks to goals from five different players, while sophomore driver
Duje Grubisic came up with the only CUI goal of the first half.
CBU stretched its lead to 6-1 with the second of three goals from Chris Toy with 5:06 on the clock in the third quarter, and Toy scored again after back-to-back CUI goals to make it a 7-3 game with just 1:45 left in the third period.
Junior 2-meter
Milos Skaljac and senior driver
Jure Belamaric scored goals within the last 45 seconds of the third period, however, with Belamaric netting his goal just six seconds before the period ended to shrink the deficit to 7-5 heading into the last eight minutes.
Skaljac scored his second goal, a 6-on-5 tally, with 3:14 left in the game, but Ramer and the Lancer defense slammed the door the rest of the way to close out the upset.
Concordia picked up two goals each from Grubisic and Skaljac, along with goals from Belamaric and sophomore driver
Caleb Hamilton.
Freshman goalie
Martin Babovic nabbed 10 saves for the Eagles, who fall to 8-5 against ranked opponents and 2-7 all-time against the Lancers.
Concordia has one more crack at California Baptist when both teams close out the season Nov. 20 in the NAIA National Invitational at the Lancer Aquatics Center in Riverside, starting at 3 p.m.
The Eagles open up the day-long tournament with a matchup against Fresno Pacific, starting at 9 a.m.
Box Score
