WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out its two-game home Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Concordia on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Cobbers in a 2 p.m. contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-1-0 MIAC, 5-3-2 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (2-1-0 MIAC, 5-4-0 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• The Cobbers erupted for three third-period goals, breaking open a one-goal game and handing the Cardinals their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback of the season—a 5-1 decision at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | 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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play next weekend, heading to the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Wis., for a pair of nonconference games against Aurora. Saint Mary's and Aurora square off at 7 p.m. next Friday, before meeting again at 3 p.m. the following day.
• Concordia: The Cobbers close out the 2016 portion of their schedule on Friday, hosting UW-Stout in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Moorhead Sports Center.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Cardinals—who had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 22—suffered their second straight loss with Friday's setback against Concordia. … Saint Mary's loss to CC Friday snapped their conference-opening four-game winning streak. The Cardinals' four straight wins to open the conference was the first time since the 1997-98 season that Saint Mary's has opened MIAC play 4-0-0. … With Friday's 5-1 loss to the Cobbers, Saint Mary's has now surrendered five goals in each of its last two games. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) scored his fifth goal of the season—and second in as many games—to account for Saint Mary's lone goal vs. Concordia Friday. … Heinle 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.) scored three goals in the Cardinals' MIAC sweep of St. Olaf on Nov. 18-19—scoring twice in Saint Mary's 6-3 Game 1 win, while adding another in the Cardinals' sweep-clinching 3-0 victory 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 Saturday's conference rematch against Concordia leading the team in goals (5) and points (8). … Kinne has recorded at least one point in seven of the team's 10 games—including goals in five of those 10 contests. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) share the team lead with six assists each, while Gruse and Walz are second to Kinne in points with seven, followed by Albergo with six. … Saint Mary's 29 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 41 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 stopped 26 Cobbers shots Friday evening, suffering his first loss of the season (4-1-2) in his seven 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 Saturday's game against Concordia owning a 2.38 goals-against-average and a .912 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 12-8 in the first period, and 8-7 in the third, but have been outscored 12-9 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—thanks to Friday's 5-1 win over Saint Mary's—are now 2-3-0 in their last five. … Three of Concordia's five 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' five goals against Saint Mary's Friday came from Jordan Kebsbach (2), Jordan Christianson, Garrett Hendrickson, and Zach Doerring. … Hendrickson also added three assists, while Doerring had two. … Dalton Mills heads into Saturday's rematch with Saint Mary's owning a team-high five goals, one more than Hendrickson and Doerring, while Jeremy Johnson is the team's assist leader with eight. … With his four-point night against Saint Mary's, Hendrickson moved into the team lead with 10 points, two in front of Doerring and Johnson. … Jacob Stephen and Sam Nelson have shared the goaltending duties this season, with Nelson making five starts, while Stephen has made four. … Stephen owns a 2.98 goals-against-average and .914 save percentage, with Nelson—who made 36 saves against Saint Mary's Friday—boasting a 2.63 GAA and .923 save percentage. … Nelson has made a team-high 155 saves, 27 more than Stephen. … 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 did score a pair of power-play goals against Saint Mary's and have now tallied nine goals with the man advantage. … The Cobbers have been outscored in the game's first two periods—10-6 in the first, 9-8 in the second—but hold a 9-7 edge in third-period goals. … Concordia has played one overtime game this season, beating Saint Mary's 3-2 on Oct. 30. … Concordia is unbeaten (4-0-0) when scoring the game's first goal, but the Cobbers are just 1-4-0 when their opponent scores first.