October 23, 2012

St. Norbert Sports Information | Photo: Ferron Photography

DE PERE - St. Norbert College claimed a win in its season opener for the 13th consecutive season with a 4-0 non-conference win over Concordia University Wisconsin at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (1-0), who won their 10th consecutive game overall, have not lost a season opener since the 1999-2000 season. Concordia, skating all freshmen in its lineup under new coach Jasen Wise, dropped to 0-1.

St. Norbert jumped out to a 1-0 lead early when Erik Cooper collected his first collegiate goal with a shot from the doorstep just 2 minutes 8 second into the game. That lead held up for almost two periods, until Kyle Stroh scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at the 14:13 mark of the second period.

The Green Knights pulled away in the third period, dominating puck possession and outshooting the Falcons 13-2 in the final 20 minutes. Sam Dougherty went top-shelf from the blue line at 10:54, and Carl Ekstrom followed with a power-play marker at 15:32.

David Jacobson made 17 saves to earn his fifth career shutout. Jake Hebda made 31 saves in his collegiate debut for Concordia.

St. Norbert, which outshot the Falcons 35-17, was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Concordia was 0-for-4.