MEQUON, Wis. – The University of Dubuque men's hockey team battled Concordia-Wisconsin in explosive fashion on Friday evening. The Spartans ultimately fell 8-4.

The Spartans (4-7-0, 1-6-0 NCHA) struck first in the ninth minute when Zach Burfoot and Nikita Borodaenko connected with Zach Cline to take a 1-0 lead. The Falcons (4-5-0, 3-4-0 NCHA) responded a minute later, tying the game at one goal apiece. The Spartans killed a penalty and the score remained 1-1 at the end of the first period. The Falcons scored three goals early in the second period but the Spartans answered late, as Burfoot took a pass from Cline to make the score 4-2 after two periods. The Falcons added two goals as the third period began before Burfoot found the net for a second time. Cline and Borodaenko both had assists on the goal. Burfoot tallied his fourth point of the night four minutes later, finding Aleksey Zielinski as the Spartans cut the lead to 6-4. The Falcons scored a minute later and added a goal just before the buzzer. The final score was 8-4 in favor of the Falcons.

Burfoot scored four points on two goals and two assists, tying the program record. He also took six shots on goal and blocked a Falcons shot. Cline tallied three points on a goal and two assists, as he shot five times and finished with a plus/minus of positive two. Zielinski scored on his only shot of the match. Borodaenko added two assists and won 13 of his 18 face-offs. Brock Weimer and Nolan Underwood won ten and nine face-offs, respectively. Beau Altman entered the game in goal in the second period and made 13 of the team's 24 saves.

The Spartans will take on the Falcons again in the second half of the series on Saturday. The game is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m.