WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team kicks off post-season play on their home ice on Sunday, as the Cardinals entertain Concordia in an Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff semifinal at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Opening face-off is set for 2 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• #2 Saint Mary's Cardinals (14-9-2 Overall) vs. #3 Concordia Cobbers (13-8-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Playoff Program | MIAC Playoff Homepage
 
MIAC Playoff Schedule:
Quarterfinal: Thursday, Feb. 26
#5 Hamline 4, #4 Augsburg 3 | Recap
Semifinals: Saturday, Feb. 28 | 7 p.m.
#5 Hamline 6, #1 St. Thomas 3
Semifinals: Sunday, March 1 | 7 p.m.
#5 Hamline at #1 St. Thomas | Mendota Heights, Minn.
#3 Concordia at #2 Saint Mary's | Winona, Minn.
Championship: Saturday, March 7 | Time: TBA
Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed | Location TBA
 
How The MIAC Field Got Here:
#1: St. Thomas again stood on top of the MIAC mountain as the league's regular-season champions. St. Thomas clinched at least a share of the title and the Playoffs' No. 1 seed with a thrilling 3-2 win at Saint John's on Feb. 19, then took the outright title by completing the sweep with a 3-1 victory in front of the home fans Friday night. It's the fourth season in a row UST has won a share of the MIAC crown, and the 31st conference championship overall.
#2-3-4-5: Saint Mary's pulled out a thrilling 4-3 win in overtime to clinch its trip to the postseason. The Cardinals then held off a late Hamline charge for a 5-4 win Saturday and a crucial sweep that vaulted Saint Mary's into the No. 2 seed. That pushed Concordia to No. 3, and Hamline all the way to No. 5. Saint Mary's (14-9-2, 9-5-2 MIAC) finished behind only St. Thomas (16-5-4, 10-3-3 MIAC, 34 points) as the Cardinals ended with 31 points. The Cobbers (13-8-4, 8-5-3 MIAC) were third with 28, Augsburg (12-13, 9-7 MIAC) fourth with 27, and Hamline (11-10-4, 7-6-3 MIAC) fifth with 25. That left Saint John's (11-9-5, 7-7-2 MIAC) and Gustavus (8-9-8, 5-5-6) just on the outside with 24 points apiece to share sixth place.
 
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
• February 13, 2014: After trading goals with Concordia for the first three periods, Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored his second goal of the game 1:25 into overtime, lifting the Cardinals to a key 4-3 MIAC win over the Cobbers at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• February 14, 2014: The Cobbers erupted for three goals in both the first and second periods and cruised to an 8-3 victory and a split in the their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's—Their Last MIAC Playoff Appearance:
• March 4, 2004: St. Olaf erupted for three third-period goals and held off a furious third-period Saint Mary's comeback, as the Oles eliminated the Cardinals from MIAC post-season play with a 5-3 victory at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Concordia—Their Last MIAC Appearance:
• February 28, 2014: A pair of goals 74-seconds apart at the start of the second period proved to be the difference, as St. Olaf handed the Cobbers a 5-3 setback in the teams' MIAC quarterfinal game at the Northfield Arena in Northfield, Minn. | Recap
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Cardinals are making their first post-season appearance since the 2003-04 season, when they dropped a 5-3 decision to St. Olaf. … Saint Mary's second-place finish in the regular-season standings was its highest since placing second during the 1994-95 season, when the Cardinals went 11-4-1 and finished one game behind St. Thomas. … The Cardinals head into post-season play with a 14-9-2 overall record, marking the most wins since Saint Mary's went 14-11-0 during the 1997-98 campaign. … With their 4-3 overtime win over Hamline last Friday, the Cardinals improved to 6-0-2 in conference play on Friday nights. The Cardinals are now 8-2-2 overall in Friday games this season. … The Cardinals' last two Friday games have both been 4-3 overtime victories. … Saint Mary's heads into Saturday's game against Concordia having won 11 of its last 14. … Four of the Cardinals' last five games have been decided by one goal—including a pair of overtime victories. … The Cardinals have played six overtime games this season. Saint Mary's went to a shootout vs. both St. Thomas and Saint John's, while beating Hamline and 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. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) enters the post-season as the Cardinals' hottest offensive player, having recorded six points—three goals and three assists—in Saint Mary's sweep of Hamline last weekend. … Kinne—who notched his first collegiate three-assist game last Friday, before recording his first collegiate three-goal game a day later—has now recorded at least one point in seven straight games—owning 14 points (6 G, 8 A) during that stretch. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.)—who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game against St. Olaf on Jan. 31—heads into Saturday's game against Concordia as the team-leader in goals (18), assists (17), and points (35). … Gruse's 18 goals are the most by a Cardinal since the 2002-03 season, when Al Schumacher scored 19, while his 35 points are the most since Jason Sato recorded 35 points during the 1998-99 season. … Gruse's 18 goals and 35 points rank No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, in all of NCAA Division III. … Gruse has recorded nine multiple-point games through Saint Mary's first 25 games. … The Cardinals boast 10 players—Gruse (35), Jed McGlasson (20), Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich. / 19), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn. / 19), Kinne (19), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa / 18), Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn. / 18), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn. / 17), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill. / 12), and Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash. / 12)—with 10 or more points. … The Cardinals have recorded five hat tricks this season, the most in program history over the past two decades. Kinne's three-goal effort in Saint Mary's regular-season finale vs. Hamline is the latest. Gruse netted three goals against St. Scholastica and four vs. Bethel, while Portner 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 14 players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Kinne, Cesarz, Wasell, Portner, Walz, Cole Pierce (Grand Ledge, Mich.), Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.), Connor Langfield (Rosemount, Minn.), Jack Strusz (Red Wing, Minn.), 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 91 goals have come from 19 different players, while 22 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) has recorded three shutouts this season—stopping all 34 shots vs. Augsburg on Feb. 6, posting a 31-save performance against St. Olaf on Jan. 30, and tallying a 32-save effort against Gustavus on Jan. 23. … Heinle, who has made 30 or more saves 11 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 22 of the team's 25 games—enters Saturday's game against Concordia owning a 2.61 goals-against-average and a .919 save percentage, while Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) boasts a 4.13 GAA and an .841 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 11-3-2 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 35-26 in the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Concordia is making its third straight MIAC Playoff appearance and fourth in the last five seasons. The Cobbers are 1-3 in their previous four trips to the conference tournament. … Concordia advanced to the league title game back in 2011. … The Cobbers head into Saturday's showdown with Saint Mary's boasting a 3-1-1 record  in their last five games. … The Cobbers posted a 6-3-1 record against conference opponents since December. … Concordia is 10-0-3 on Saturdays this year and 6-4-2 on the road. … Jordie Bancroft heads into post-season play having scored a team-leading 14 goals. … Bancroft also shares the team lead in points (25) with Andrew Deters, while Deters owns a team-best 15 assists. … The Cobbers have three players with 10 or more goals—Bancroft (14), Jon Grebosky (12), and Deters (10)—and five with 10 or more assists—Deters (15), Jeremy Johnson (13), Garrett Hendrickson (13), Bancroft (11), and Charlie Aus (11). … Bancroft has scored six of the Cobbers' 14 power-play goals this season. … Bancroft and Tucker Coborn share the team lead with three game-winning goals each. … Johnson finished the regular season with 20 points, joining Bancroft and Deters to give CC three players with 20 or more points. … Johnson finished the regular season by recording at least one point in five of the Cobbers' last seven games—including a career-high three points in the team's win over Saint Mary's in their regular-season finale. … Jordyn Kaufer and Alex Reichle have shared the goaltending duties this season—Kaufer owns a 2.14 goals-against-average and .915 save percentage in 14 starts, while Reichle boasts a 2.59 GAA and .915 save percentage in 11 starts. … Kaufer has compiled a team-leading 344 saves, and owns the Cobbers' lone shutout of the year—a 27-save effort against Saint John's on Jan. 17. … Concordia has outscored its opponents 78-61, including 32-22 in the game's middle period. … The Cobbers have played six overtime games this season—going 1-1-4, with the lone loss a 4-3 decision at the hands of Saint Mary's on Feb. 13. … Concordia is 12-2-1 when scoring the game's first goal, while winning just once (1-6-3) when its opponent gets on the board first.