WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out its two-game home conference series against Concordia on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Cobbers in a 2 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-4-2 MIAC | 12-8-2 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (7-5-3 MIAC | 12-8-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program
 
Last Night:
• Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored 1:25 into overtime, as the Cardinals handed the Cobbers a 4-3 MIAC setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap

 
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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the regular-season portion of their schedule next weekend with a pair of games against Hamline. Saint Mary's hosts in the Pipers on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, before heading to Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.
• Concordia: This weekend's games against Saint Mary's are the last two games of the regular-season for the Cobbers, who have a bye next weekend and will have to wait and see how things unfold in their quest for one of the five MIAC tournament berths.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
With their win over the Cobbers, Saint Mary's is now tied for second in the conference standings with Concordia, three points behind league-leading St. Thomas, three points in front of fourth-place Hamline and four points up on fifth-place Augsburg and Saint John's. … Friday's 4-3 win snapped the Cardinals' three-game Friday shutout streak. It did, however, extend Saint Mary's Friday MIAC unbeaten streak to seven (5-0-2). … The Cardinals are now 7-2-2 in Friday games this season. … Saint Mary's heads into Saturday's rematch with Concordia having won nine of its last 11. … Friday's win over Concordia was the Cardinals' 12th win of the season—the most since 2003-04, when Saint Mary's finished 13-11-2. … Friday's game against Concordia was the Cardinals' fifth overtime game of the season. Saint Mary's went to a shootout vs. both St. Thomas and Saint John's, while beating Concordia, and dropping 2-1 and 3-2 OT decisions to Gustavus and nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point, respectively. … 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. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored a pair of goals vs. the Cobbers Friday—including the game-winner 1:25 into overtime—while Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) accounted for the other two. … 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 (18), assists (14), and points (32). … Gruse's 18 goals are the most by a Cardinal since the 2002-03 season, when Al Schumacher scored 18, while his 32 points are the most since  Lenny Hoffmann recorded 33 points during the 2003-04 season. … Gruse's 18 goals and 32 points rank No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 6 in all of NCAA Division III. … Gruse has recorded nine multiple-point games through Saint Mary's first 22 games. … Gruse (31), Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska / 19), Marx (17), Cesarz (15), Walz (14), Portner (14), Mezzano (13), Kinne (12), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill. / 11), and Wasell (11) give the Cardinals 10 players with 10 or more points this season. … 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—Johnson, Kinne, Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.),  Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.), Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), 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). … 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 79 goals have come from 18 different players, while 22 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.)—who posted his third shutout in his last seven starts with a 34-save effort against Augsburg on Feb. 6—finished with 23 saves against Concordia 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 19 of the team's 22 games—enters Saturday's game against Concordia owning a 2.30 goals-against-average and a .927 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. … The Cardinals are 10-2-2 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 33-21 in the game's final 20 minutes. … 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
Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the final regular-season contest 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 5-4-2 on the road heading into Friday's game against Saint Mary's. … Jeremy Johnson, Charlie Aus, and Jordan Krebsbach netted CC's three goals vs. Saint Mary's Friday. … Krebsbach has now scored in back-to-back games. … Jordie Bancroft heads into the Cobbers' regular-season finale against Saint Mary's Saturday as the team-leader in goals (14), while Andrew Deters leads the team in assists (14) and points (24). … Bancroft is one of two Cobber players with 10 or more goals—Jon Grebosky is the other with 11—while Deters leads three Cobbers with double-digit assist totals. Garrett Hendricks is two back of Deters with 13 assists, while Johnson owns 11. … Bancroft and Deters are two of eight 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 2.14 goals-against-average and a .915 save percentage in 15 starts, while Reichle owns a 2.54 GAA and .912 save percentage in 10 starts. … Kaufer, who has started the Cobbers' last three games, leads the team with 345 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—21-17 in the first, 29-22 in the second, and 19-18 in the third. … CC's 4-3 loss to Saint Mary's Friday was the Cobbers' sixth overtime game of the season, with four of the six ending in ties. … 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 0-6-3 when their opponent scores first.