WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team kicks off its two-game home conference series against Concordia on Friday night, as the Cardinals host the Cobbers in a 7 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4-2 MIAC | 11-8-2 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (7-4-3 MIAC | 12-7-4 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals earned a conference split against Augsburg last weekend, erupting for five goals—and getting 34 saves from Phil Heinle (York, Pa.)—in a 5-0 Saint Mary's win last Friday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, while Augsburg built three, two-goal leads in edging the Cardinals 5-4 in the teams' rematch in Minneapolis, Minn., a day later | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
• Concordia: The Cobbers picked up four conference points last weekend in their two-game series against St. Olaf in Moorhead, Minn.—tying the Oles 1-1 on Friday (losing the shootout 4-3), before notching a 4-3 victory in Satureday's rematch  | St. Olaf Recap 1 * St. Olaf Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—Earlier This Year:
• November 2, 2014: After being shut out by Augsburg 2-0 in their season opener, the Cardinals went another 18:54 before finally finding the back of the net. Over the next 41:06, Saint Mary's would score three more times—including two from Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska)—as the Cardinals dropped Concordia 4-2 during the third day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Showcase in Blaine, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—A Year Ago:
• February 14, 2014: the Cardinals' offense erupted for four goals—including three in a span of 1:30 early in the third period to send their conference game against Concordia into overtime. Unfortunately, OT was not kind to the Cardinals, as Concordia — which scored the game-tying goal with two seconds remaining in the third period—got a goal from Joe Becker 2:36 into the extra session to beat Saint Mary's 5-4 at the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn. | Recap
• February 15, 2014: Unlike the first game of its two-game series against Concordia—when Saint Mary's found itself staring at that three-goal deficit—the Cardinals went on the offensive in the rematch, scoring a pair of goals in both the first and second periods and cruising to a 5-2 conference victory at the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn. | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Cobbers square off for the second game of their two-game conference series on Saturday. Opening faceoff at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena is slated for 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
With last weekend's split against Augsburg, the Cardinals head into this weekend's two games against Concordia sitting in third place—three points behind the second-place Cobbers, and one point in front of Augsburg and Saint John's with four conference games remaining. … With their 5-0 victory over Augsburg, the Cardinals have now won their last three Friday games by shutout. Saint Mary's blanked Gustavus (3-0) and St. Olaf (3-0) the previous two Fridays. … The Cardinals are now 4-0-2 in conference play on Friday nights and 6-2-2 overall on Fridays. … Saturday's 5-4 loss to Augsburg snapped the Cardinals' three-game winning streak. … Saint Mary's heads into Friday's game having won eight of its last 10. … Friday's 5-0 win over the Auggies was the Cardinals' 11th win of the season, one more win than they recorded a year ago and the most since Saint Mary's went 11-13-1 during the 2004-05 season. … Saint Mary's 2-1 overtime loss to Gustavus on Jan. 24 snapped the Cardinals' season-high five-game winning streak. … The five consecutive wins were not only a season high, but also the longest winning streak since late in the 2005-06 season, when they put together a six-game winning streak. … Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) recorded his second multiple-goal game of the season with two goals vs. the Auggies last Friday. … Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa), Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.), Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.), Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.), and Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn.) netted Saint Mary's other seven goals vs. the Auggies. … Saint Mary's three first-period goals against Augsburg last Friday came in an 88-second span. … The Cardinals have recorded four hat tricks this season, the most in program history over the past two decades. Gruse netted three goals against St. Scholastica and four vs. Bethel, while Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) notched his first collegiate three-goal game vs. Northland on Jan. 10 and Cesarz scored three times vs. St. Olaf on Jan. 31. … Gruse's four-goal effort vs. Bethel was the Cardinals' first since Mike Glaesmer netted four against Hamline on Dec. 6, 2008. … The Cardinals boast 13 players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Cesarz, Wasell, Kinne, Morales, Portner, Wasell, Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), Connor Langfield (Rosemount, Minn.), Cole Pierce (Grand Ledge, Mich.), Joey Van Antwerp (Farmington Hills, Ill.), Michael Cimba (Wilmette, Ill.), Kyle Blondin (Kent, Wash.), and Jude Warner (Pickerington, Ohio). … Gruse—who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game against St. Olaf on Jan. 31—heads into this weekend's games against Concordia as the team-leader in goals (16), assists (15), and points (31). … Gruse's 16 goals are the most by a Cardinal since the 2002-03 season, when Al Schumacher scored 19, while his 31 points are the most since  Lenny Hoffmann recorded 33 points during the 2003-04 season. … Gruse's 16 goals and 31 points rank No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 6 in all of NCAA Division III. … Gruse has recorded eight multiple-point games through Saint Mary's first 21 games. … Gruse (31), Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska / 19), Marx (17), Walz (14), Cesarz (14), Portner (13), Albergo (11), Wasell (11), and Mezzano (11)  give the Cardinals nine players with 10 or more points this season. … The Cardinals' 11 goals in their 11-2 rout of Aurora on Dec. 6 were a season high—and the most scored in a game since Saint Mary's netted 14 in a 14-3 rout of Concordia during the 2007-08 season. … Saint Mary's 75 goals have come from 18 different players, while 22 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) posted his third shutout in his last six starts with a 34-save effort against Augsburg last Friday. … Heinle notched his second collegiate shutout with a 31-save performance against St. Olaf on Jan. 30, while notching collegiate shutout No. 1 with a 32-save performance vs. Gustavus on Jan. 23. … Heinle, who has made 30 or more saves 10 times this season, recorded a career-high 51 saves against Saint John's on Nov. 21. … Heinle's 51 saves are the most by a Cardinal goalie since Jason Horstman stopped 52 shots against Gustavus on Feb. 19, 2011. … Heinle—who has started 18 of the team's 20 games—enters this weekend's games against Concordia owning a 2.26 goals-against-average and a .929 save percentage, while Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) boasts a 4.00 GAA and an .852 save percentage … The Cardinals' 1-0 win in the shootout vs. St. Thomas on Nov. 8 was their first shootout in the two years since the MIAC added it to the end of tied games prior to the 2013-14 season. … Saint Mary's 4-0 loss to MSOE on Jan. 5 marked just the second time this season they have failed to net at least one goal—the Cardinals were blanked by Augsburg 2-0 in their season-opener against Augsburg on Oct. 31. … The Cardinals are 9-2-2 when scoring the game's first goal, while going just 2-6-0 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents in all three periods—including 32-20 in the game's final 20 minutes. … The Cardinals have played four overtime games, going to a shootout vs. both St. Thomas and Saint John's, while dropping 2-1 and 3-2 OT decisions to Gustavus and nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point, respectively. … The Cardinals' 1-1 showing at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase marked the third straight season Saint Mary's has gone 1-1 at the conference's season-opening event. Saint Mary's lost to Augsburg (6-2) and beat St. Olaf (3-2), while topping Bethel (7-2) and falling to Saint John's (8-1) in 2012-13. … Saint Mary's season-opening 2-0 loss to Augsburg on Oct. 31 actually snapped its three-game winning streak—the Cardinals had closed out the 2013-14 season with a 5-2 win over Concordia and 6-5 and 8-3 victories over Hamline.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
This weekend's games against Saint Mary's are the final regular-season contests for the Cobbers, who have their conference bye next weekend. … Last Saturday's game against St. Olaf was Concordia's fourth straight home game. The Cobbers closed out the home portion of its regular-season schedule with a 7-4-2 record at the Moorhead Sports Center. CC is 5-3-2 on the road heading into Friday's game against Saint Mary's. … Tucker Coborn scored CC's lone goal in last Friday's 1-1 tie vs. St. Olaf, while Jon Grebosky had a pair of goals—including the game-winner with 2:48 remaining in regulation—in Saturday's rematch. Jordan Krebsbach and Zach Doering netted CC's other two goals in Saturday's 4-3 win. … Jordie Bancroft heads into the Cobbers' weekend series against Saint Mary's as the team-leader in goals (14), while sharing the team lead in points (23) with Andrew Deters. … Bancroft is one of two Cobber players with 10 or more goals—Grebosky is the other with 11—while Deters has a team-best 14 assists, leading three Cobbers with double-digit assist totals. Garrett Hendricks is one back of Deters with 13 assists, while Jeremy Johnson owns 11. … Bancroft and Deters are two of seven Cobbers with 10 or more points through 23 games. … Bancroft owns a team-high six power-play goals and is also the team leader with three game-winning tallies. … Deters has accounted for three of the team's five shorthanded goals. … Jordyn Kaufer and Alex Reichle have shared the goaltending duties this season, with Kaufer compiling a 2.01 goals-against-average and a .919 save percentage in 13 starts, while Reichle owns a 2.54 GAA and .912 save percentage in 10 starts. … Kaufer, who started both games vs. St. Olaf last weekend—making 62 saves—leads the team with 318 saves. … Kaufer has stopped 30 or more shots three times—including a career-high 35 in his first start as a Cobber on Nov. 1 against Augsburg. … The Cobbers have outscored their opponents in all three periods—20-16 in the first, 28-21 in the second, and 18-17 in the third. … CC's 1-1 tie vs. St. Olaf last Friday was the Cobbers' fifth overtime game of the season, with four of the five ending in ties—the lone exception, a 3-2 win over Saint John's on Jan. 16. … Concordia has scored first in all 12 of its wins this season—the Cobbers are 12-2-1 when netting the game's first goal, while going 0-5-3 when their opponent scores first.