In what seemed to be a promising matchup for their final weekend of 2019, DePaul’s hockey team was narrowly beaten by Concordia over the weekend. 

On Friday, the Blue Demons were looking to rebound after being swept by Marian University two weeks prior. During the first period, Mike Helf scored on a powerplay to give the Blue Demons a 1-0 advantage. 

Two minutes into the second period, Eric Koetting scored his first goal of the season giving DePaul a 2-0 lead. However, Concordia was able to respond with their first goal at the 15-minute mark. While the Blue Demons still held the lead, penalties became a big factor as the Falcons were able to tie the game at 2-2.

DePaul responded with five minutes left in the second period to restore their 3-2 lead. 

With just one minute left in the second, penalties became a problem again for the Blue Demons as the Falcons were able to tie the game again at three on the powerplay. 

“The biggest thing with our team is penalties, the penalties are what kills us every single game,” defenseman Seth Cohen said.

Although penalties were a big factor during the first two periods, they didn’t translate to the third. While Jimmy Panos scored two minutes into the third to make it 4-3, it was Concordia who got the last laugh as they were able to score two unanswered goals to take the lead and make it 5-4.

“I just think we got overconfident and kind of got ahead of ourselves and kind of lost some of the energy,” Koetting said after the game.

That score would remain for the rest of the game as the Falcons were eventually able to seal the win, as more and more penalties continued to pile up. Between the two teams, a total of 21 penalties were given for a combined total of 69 minutes, including one unsportsmanlike and two game misconducts.

The next day, a near even matchup ensued as both teams were able to capitalize on two goals during the first period. Concordia was able to respond with one of their own during the second period to make it 3-2, but the Blue Demons persisted on the powerplay halfway through the third and tied the game at three.

Unfortunately, the Falcons were able to get a bad bounce from a far shot to take a 4-3 lead with just over two minutes left in the game, and held on to seal the weekend sweep. Shots were nearly identical on Saturday with 57 coming from Concordia and 55 from DePaul.

“In the third period we started taking a couple penalties but we still had good energy — just didn’t get the bounces we needed,” forward Dace Potas said.

DePaul ends 2019 with an overall record of 8-10-1 with a 1-5-0 record in the Northern Collegiate Hockey League (NCHL.) 2020 contains a do-or-die schedule featuring nothing but conference games for the remainder of the regular season until playoffs begin in mid-February.

The Blue Demons will take a much-needed break for the winter and eventually return to Johnny’s Ice House West on Jan. 17, 2020 at 8:30 p.m., where they will face off against Robert Morris University.