MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team headed into this weekend's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against Concordia riding an eight-game unbeaten streak—the Cardinals' longest since the 1996-97 season.
 
Unfortunately for coach Bill Moore and the Cardinals, they left the Moorhead Sports Center after back-to-back games against the Cobbers in the midst of a two-game losing streak.
 
The Cobbers—who beat the Cardinals 6-3 in Friday's opening game of the two-game series—completed their conference sweep of the Cardinals, scoring single goals in the first and second periods in handing Saint Mary's a 2-0 setback.
 
Jordie Bancroft gave the Cobbers all the offense they would need, scoring his first goal of the season 4:15 into the opening period. Garrett Hendrick, who assisted on Bancroft's first-period goal, set up Concordia's second goal as well, feeding Matt O'Dea, who beat Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) at 7:45 of the second period.
 
Heinle finished with 23 saves—including 10 in the game's opening 20 minutes—for the Cardinals, while Alex Reichle stopped all 19 Saint Mary's shots in recording the shutout.
 
The Cardinals (3-2-1 MIAC, 6-4-2 overall) are now off until Jan. 3, when they host Milwaukee School of Engineering in a 5 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.