APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's hockey team fell just short Friday in a 4-3 setback to Concordia University Wisconsin in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Appleton Ice Center.
    Lawrence (4-13-2, 3-9-1 NCHA) trailed twice by two goals and cut the deficit to one both times. The Vikings pulled their goaltender late but couldn't get the equalizer.
    The Vikings jumped on Concordia (11-9-0, 6-7-0) immediately when Miles McCue scored just 1:05 into the. McCue scored off a pass from Robby Pustulka to give Lawrence a 1-0 lead.
    Concordia scored the game's next three goals and held a 3-1 edge with 11:57 left in regulation.
    With the Vikings on the penalty kill, Carter Cloutier grabbed an errant pass and raced to the Concordia net. He scored the short-hander at the 9:03 mark to cut the lead to 3-2. 
    Just over a minute later, Concordia turned the tables when the Falcons scored a short-hander to push the advantage back to 4-2. 
    The Falcons were whistled for another penalty with 8:43 left to put Lawrence back on the power play, and it didn't take long to cash in. McCue scored his second goal of the night 10 seconds later with Will Crull and Cloutier picking up assists to trim the lead to 4-3.
    Lawrence later pulled goaltender Nolan Mahaffey and put the pressure on the Falcons. The Vikings forced Concordia goaltender Gabe Rosek to make multiple big saves to preserve the lead. Rosek finished with 37 saves on the night. Mahaffey stopped 35 shots for the Vikings.
    The teams wrap up the series Saturday at Concordia.