WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team opens a two-game home Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Concordia on Friday, as the Cardinals host the Cobbers in a 7 p.m. contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-0-0 MIAC, 5-2-2 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (1-1-0 MIAC, 4-4-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 22, 2016 * Milwaukee, Wis.: The Cardinals scored the game's first two goals, but Milwaukee School of Engineering rattled off five unanswered goals in handing Saint Mary's a 5-2 nonconference setback at Kerns Center | Recap
• Concordia—November 25-26, 2016 * Plattsburg, N.Y.: The Cobbers are coming off a 1-1 showing at the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout, hosted by Plattsburgh State, beating the host Cardinals 4-3 last Friday, before falling to Norwich 3-0 in the title game a day later | Plattsburg Recap * Norwich Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—Earlier This Year:
• October 30, 2016 * Blaine, Minn.:  Two days after battling St. Thomas to a 3-3 stalemate in the first day of the MIAC Hockey Showcase, the Cardinals were once again deadlocked at the end of regulation—this time knotted at 2-2 against Concordia. Less than two minutes into the extra session, however, the Cobbers' Zach Doerring corralled a loose puck and put it past Saint Mary's goalie Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.), as Concordia handed the Cardinals a 4-3 nonconference setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—A Year Ago:
• December 4, 2015 * Moorhead, Minn.:  It took more than 81 minutes to determine a winner the last time Saint Mary's and Concordia squared off—as the Cardinals beat the Cobbers 4-3 in double overtime in a conference playoff semifinal game. No overtime was needed when the two teams squared off in the first game of their two-game MIAC series at the Moorhead Sports Center. And that was not good new for the Cardinals. Concordia erupted for three goals in a three-minute span in the second period, breaking away from a 2-2 tie and handing the Cardinals a 6-3 setback—Saint Mary's first conference loss of the season | Recap
 • December 5, 2015 * Moorhead, Minn.: Saint Mary's headed into its conference weekend series against Concordia riding an eight-game unbeaten streak—the Cardinals' longest since the 1996-97 season. Unfortunately, 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 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Cobbers return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for the second game of their two-game conference series. Game time is slated for 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Cardinals' 5-2 nonconference loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 22 snapped their five-game winning streak. … The Cardinals' five-game run was their longest since the 2005-06 season. … Saint Mary's four straight wins to open the conference is the first time since the 1997-98 season that Saint Mary's has opened MIAC play 4-0-0. … Five of Saint Mary's nine games have been decided by one goal or less. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) and Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) scored the Cardinals' two goals in their 5-2 loss to MSOE on Nov. 22. … Johnson's first-period penalty shot goal against MSOE was the Cardinals' first since Jesse Polk scored on a penalty shot during the 2007-08 season. … Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) was named MIAC Athlete of the Week after scoring three goals against St. Olaf on Nov. 18-19—netting two in a 4-3 victory on Nov. 18 and another in the 3-0 win a day later. … Cesarz has now scored seven goals in eight career games against St. Olaf—the junior netted his first collegiate hat trick vs. the Oles in 2014-15, and added a goal and an assist last year. … Cesarz—who now owns four multiple-goal games in his collegiate career—is the third Saint Mary's player to record a two-goal game this season, joining Heinle and Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), who each posted two-goal games against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5. … Walz's two-goal game against UW-River Falls was the first multiple-goal game of his career. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) heads into this weekend's conference series against Concordia leading the team in goals (5) and points (8). … Kinne has recorded at least one point in seven of the team's nine games—including goals in five of those nine contests. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) share the team lead with six assists each, while Gruse is second to Kinne in points with seven, followed by Albergo and Walz with six. … Saint Mary's 28 goals have come from 14 different players—including collegiate firsts from Dylan Robertson (Darien, Ill.), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) and Joey Mavrin (Lockport, Ill.). … Seventeen different players have accounted for Saint Mary's 39 assists. … Albergo and Gruse each picked up assists on three of Saint Mary's five goals vs. UW-River Falls on Nov. 5. It was the fourth time in his collegiate career Gruse has had a three-assist night, while Albergo's was his first. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) stopped all 25 shots he faced against St. Olaf on Nov. 19 for his first shutout of the season—and fourth of his career. … Heinle, who stopped a combined 46 shots in Saint Mary's sweep of St. Olaf on Nov. 18-19, is now unbeaten (4-0-2) in his six starts this season. … Heinle stopped a season-high 38 shots against Bethel on Nov. 12. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) finished with 28 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 en route to his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Heinle heads into Friday's game against Concordia owning a 1.95 goals-against-average and a .926 save percentage. Davis, meanwhile, boasts a 3.31 GAA and .878 save percentage in three starts. … Saint Mary's has scored seven power-play goals this season. … The Cardinals have scored first in all five of their wins this season. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 12-7 in the first period, and 8-4 in the third, but have been outscored 11-8 in the second. … Three of the Cardinals' nine games this season have gone into overtime—Saint Mary's opened the year with a 3-3 tie against St. Thomas and a 3-2 OT loss to Concordia, before battling UW-Eau Claire to a 3-3 deadlock on Nov. 4. … With their 3-3 tie against No. 8 UW-Eau Claire, Saint Mary's is now 0-2-4 in their last six overtime games. The Cardinals' last OT win was a 4-3, double-overtime victory over Concordia in the 2015 MIAC Playoffs. … The Cardinals' 3-3 tie against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 4 marked the second straight meeting between the two teams that has ended in a 3-3 deadlock.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• After opening the season with three wins in their first four games, the Cobbers are just 1-3-0 in their last four—the lone win, last Friday's 4-3 win over host Plattsburgh State in the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout. … Three of Concordia's four wins this season have been by one goal—1-0 over St. Thomas, 3-2 vs. Saint Mary's, and 4-3 against Plattsburgh State. … Last Saturday's 3-0 loss to Norwich marked the first time this season the Cobbers have failed to net at least one goal. … Concordia has been outscored 19-4 in its four losses this season. … The Cobbers' four goals in their 4-3 win over Plattsburgh State last Friday came from four different players—Jon Grebosky, Dalton Mills, Jordan Krebsbach, and Garrett Hendrickson. … Jeremy Johnson leads the team with seven points—all seven coming via his team-best seven assists. … Mills' goal against Plattsburgh State last Friday was his team-leading fifth of the season. … Hendrickson and Zach Doerring are second to Mills with three goals each. … Mills owns a team-best two game-winning goals. … Jacob Stephen and Sam Nelson have shared the goaltending duties this season, with both making four starts through the Cobbers' first eight games. Stephen owns a 2.98 goals-against-average and .914 save percentage, with Nelson close behind with a 3.02 GAA and .908 save percentage. … Stephen has made a team-high 128 saves, nine more than Nelson. … Nelson owns the team's lone shutout, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a season-opening 1-0 win over St. Thomas. … Concordia had its streak of five straight games with a power-play goal snapped with last Saturday's 3-0 loss to Norwich. … The Cobbers have been outscored in all three periods this season—10-5 in the first, 8-7 in the second, and 7-6 in the third. … Concordia has played one overtime game this season, beating Saint Mary's 3-2 on Oct. 30. … Concordia is unbeaten (3-0-0) when scoring the game's first goal, but the Cobbers are just 1-4-0 when their opponent scores first.