WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University and Concordia men's hockey teams close out the regular season on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Cobbers in a 2 p.m. MIAC contest at the SMU Ice Arena.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-8-1 MIAC | 8-15-1 Overall)
vs. Concordia Cobbers (9-6-0 MIAC | 12-11-1 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Night:
Concordia scored the game's first four goals — including three in the first period  — and the Cobbers held off a late SMU rally in handing the Cardinals a 4-3 MIAC setback at the SMU Ice Arena.

SMU vs. Concordia — A Year Ago:
February 17, 2012: Concordia, needing at least a win and a tie in its two-game series vs. Saint Mary's to earn a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs for the second year in a row, proved to be no match for the high-flying Cardinals, as SMU got goals from five different players in cruising to a 5-1 victory at the Moorhead Sports Center.
February 18, 2012: After scoring a season-high five goals in a 5-2 win over Concordia in their first meeting, SMU was looking for a repeat performance when the two teams squared off again at the Moorhead Sports Center. Unfortunately, the Cardinals' six-shooters fired nothing but blanks — while the Cobbers came out with guns a blazing, scoring five goals in a 13-minute span of the second period in handing SMU a 7-0, season-ending setback.

Up Next:
Saturday's game is the season finale for the Cardinals, while Concordia closes out its regular-season schedule on Saturday, before taking part in the MIAC Tournament next week.

MIAC Playoff Chase:
All five MIAC post-season tickets have been punched — but the conference's regular-season title and all five playoff seeds are still up for grabs heading into Saturday's final games of the regular season. Saint John's (8-4-3) and St. Thomas (9-5-1) are currently tied atop the MIAC standings with 19 points each, while Gustavus (8-5-2), Concordia (9-6-0) and St. Olaf (9-6-0) are all tied for third with 18 points.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
SMU heads into its regular-season finale against Concordia boasting eight wins, the most since the Cardinals went 9-14-2 during the 2007-08 season. … Saturday's game is the final collegiate home game for SMU seniors Nick Gorup (Omaha, Neb.), Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.), Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) and Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.). … Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa), Mike Hill (Fort Worth, Texas) and Wentland accounted for SMU's three goals in Friday's 4-3 loss to Concordia. … It was the second straight Friday goal for Marx, who scored SMU's only goal in last Friday's 4-1 loss to Gustavus. … Wentland has now scored in back-to-back games, having also scored in last Saturday's 5-2 loss vs. Gustavus. … Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) and Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) both assisted on two of the team's three games vs. Concordia Friday night. … Hill enters Saturday's game against Concordia as the team-leader in goals (12), assists (11) and points (23). … Thompson is second on the team in all three offensive categories with nine goals, 11 assists and 20 points. … The Cardinals have posted 10 multiple-goal games this season. Hill has four, Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) has two, and Thompson, Marx, Nick Gorup (Omaha, Neb.), and Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) have each recorded one. … SMU boasts seven players with 10 or more points through 24 games — Hill (23), Thompson (20), Balko (16), Marx (15), Wentland (15), McGlasson (13), and Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn. / 10). … SMU's 64 goals have come from 16 different players, while 21 Cardinals have recorded at least one point. … Thompson's overtime goal against Saint John's on Feb. 3 was his second game-winning goal of the season. SMU's other six game-winning goals have come from six different players. … Thompson's OT tally vs. the Johnnies was SMU's seventh shorthanded goal of the season, tying the school record set during the 1991-92 season. … Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.), who stopped a season-high 35 Gustavus shots against Gustavus on Feb. 8, finished with 23 saves vs. the Cobbers Friday. … SMU has used three different goalies this season. Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) owns a team-best 3.78 goals-against-average and an .876 save percentage. Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) has compiled a 3.87 GAA and an .874 save percentage, while Horstman has posted a 4.40 GAA and an .873 save percentage. … Scheib stopped all 38 shots he faced vs. St. Thomas on Jan. 18 en route to his first collegiate shutout. … Scheib's 38 saves were three shy of his career high. … The Cardinals' 2-1 win over Saint John's on Feb. 2 was their second overtime contest in their last seven games — SMU battled St. Thomas to a 0-0 OT tie on Jan. 18. … The overtime victory over the Johnnies was SMU's first since Nov. 22, 2011, when the Cardinals knocked off then-11th ranked MSOE 2-1. … SMU's OT win over SJU also snapped a four-game winless streak in overtime games (0-1-3). … SMU's 0-0 tie vs. the Tommies on Jan. 18 marked the first time in program history the Cardinals played to a scoreless tie. … SMU has outscored its opponents 47-17 in its eight victories this season. …  The Cardinals scored a season-high nine goals in their 9-2 rout of Hamline on Nov. 9. … SMU's nine goals against the Pipers are the most since SMU erupted for 14 goals in a 14-3 win over Concordia during the 2006-07 season. … The Cardinals have scored first in seven of their 24 games — including five of their eight wins. … The Cardinals are 3-13-0 when their opponent scores first. … With their 0-0 tie against St. Thomas on Jan. 18, the Cardinals moved to 4-2-1 on their home ice.

Scouting the Concordia Cobbers:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
With their 4-3 win over Saint Mary's Friday, the Cobbers enter Saturday's regular-season finale riding a four-game winning streak. … Friday's victory over the Cardinals was CC's ninth MIAC win of the season — the most conference wins since Concordia went 9-6-1 during the 2001-02 campaign. … The Cobbers' four goals vs. Saint Mary's came from four different players. It marked the second straight Friday CC did not have a multiple-goal scorer. The Cobbers' five goals in last Friday's win over Hamline also came from five different players. … Chris Beede, Andrew Deters, Joe Becker and Caleb Suderman scored for the Cobbers Friday. … Jordie Bancroft enters the Concordia's final regular season game leading the Cobbers in goals (11) and points (21), while Ben Payne is the team's assist leader with 12. … Concordia has four players with 10 or more assists — Payne, Bancroft (10), Brian Kang (10) and Dan Hrabowych (10). … CC boasts eight players with 10 or more points — Bancroft (21), Payne (19), Deters (16), Kang (16), Hrabowych (15), Tucker Coburn (14), Suderman (12) and Becker (10). … Three of Coburn's five goals this season have been game-winners. … Chris Neamonitis, who stopped 48 shots in picking up the two wins in goal last weekend vs. Hamline, made 29 saves against Saint Mary's on Friday. … Neamonitis has appeared in 22 of the team's 24 games this season. … Neamonitis owns a 2.19 goals-against-average and a .931 save percentage. … After winning just seven career games in his first two seasons, Neamonitis has 12 wins this season. … CC has been outscored 29-22 in the second period, but the Cobbers own a 32-22 edge in the third period. … Concordia has played four overtime games this season, going 2-1-1. The Cobbers beat St. Olaf (2-1) and UW-Eau Claire (2-1), lost to Northland (5-4) and tied Hamline (5-5). … CC scored a season-high six goals in a 6-2 win over Augsburg on Jan. 12, while surrendering a season-high seven goals in a 7-4 loss to Gustavus on Jan. 26. … Concordia is 7-4-1 when scoring first, while going 5-7-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.