By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Concordia on Saturday, as the Cardinals return to the Moorhead Sports Center for a 2 p.m. rematch with the Cobbers.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-5-1 MIAC, 3-10-2 Overall) at Concordia Cobbers (4-2-1 MIAC, 7-6-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Night:
• January 12, 2018 * Moorhead, Minn.: Concordia's Dalton Mills scored with 1:53 remaining in overtime to lift the Cobbers to a 5-4 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Cardinals at the Moorhead Sports Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—A Year Ago:
• October 30, 2016 * Blaine, Minn.: Two days after battling St. Thomas to a 3-3 stalemate in the first day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's 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 3-2 nonconference setback | Recap
• December 2, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: 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
• December 3, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Concordia scored a pair of goals in the second period and held Saint Mary's off the scoreboard over the game's final 20 minutes in handing the Cardinals their second straight MIAC loss, a 3-2 setback, at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play for the final time next Friday, heading to Dunn County Ice Arena in Menomonie, Wis., for a 7:30 p.m. matchup against UW-Stout.
• Concordia: The Cobbers are back in conference play next weekend with a pair of road games against Saint John's. CC and SJU will square off at 7 p.m. at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn., on Friday, before heading across town to the Municipal Athletic Complex for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Concordia is the third of five consecutive road games for the Cardinals, who do not play a home contest until Jan. 27 against Gustavus. Saint Mary's played nine of its first 13 contests at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Friday's 5-4 loss to Concordia was the Cardinals' third overtime game of the season—with the first two ending in ties. Saint Mary's battled St. Thomas to a 1-1 tie on Nov. 4, and tied Lawrence 2-2 on Dec. 6. The Cardinals played eight OT games a year ago, going 1-4-3. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) had a goal and an assist against Concordia Friday, while Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) netted Saint Mary's other three goals vs. the Cobbers. … Heinle has now had a goal and an assist in back-to-back games—having also achieved the feat against UW-Superior last Friday. … Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) chipped in two assists vs. Concordia Friday—it was the first multiple-point game of his collegiate career. … With their goals against Concordia, Heinle and Johnson remain tied for the team lead in goals with five each, one more than Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) and Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.). … Heinle is the team-leader in assists with eight and points with 13. … Heinle, Stang, and Ben Owen (Allen, Texas) own the Cardinals' three game-winning goals. … Saint Mary's has scored eight power play goals—two from Johnson, Cesarz, Wasell, and Meeh. … Cesarz and Johnson own the Cardinals' two shorthanded goals. … Saint Mary's boasts three players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season—Stang, Owen, and Luke Seper (Lakeville, Minn.). Seper netted his first goal as a Cardinals against Saint John's on Dec. 2; Stang's came against St. Thomas on Nov. 3, while Owen's was against Bethel on Oct. 29. … Johnson picked up a pair of multiple-point games against Lake Forest on Nov. 24-25, scoring twice in Saint Mary's 6-3 loss on Nov. 24 and adding a goal and an assist in the Cardinals' 4-2 win the following night in the teams' rematch. … Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) collected assists on all three of the Cardinals' goals against Lake Forest on Nov. 24. It was the second time in his collegiate career that he has recorded three assists in a game. … Owen and Austin Arnold (Anchorage, Alaska) each recorded their first collegiate multiple-point games against Lake Forest on Nov. 25—Owen added two assists to his second-period goal, while Arnold notched a pair of assists. … Stang and Cesarz each scored twice in Saint Mary's 5-4 loss to No. 11 UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 11. Cesarz's two-goal effort against UW-Eau Claire was his sixth career multiple-goal game—including five two-goal showings—while Stang's was the first of his collegiate career. … Stang also delivered a pair of assists against the Blugolds on Nov. 11 en route to his first collegiate four-point game. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) notched his first career win—in his first collegiate start—stopping 37 of the 39 shots in faced in the Cardinals' 4-2 win over Lake Forest on Nov. 25. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) made his first collegiate start in goal in the Cardinals' 5-4 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 11, finishing with 41 saves. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) has started 10 of the team's 15 games in goal, compiling a 3.68 goals-against-average and .866 save percentage, while Nast boasts a 4.73 GAA and .860 save percentage, and Rogers owns a 2.67 GAA and .904 save percentage. … Davis earned his first collegiate shutout, making 31 saves in a 2-0 win over Gustavus on Feb. 4, 2017, while stopping 28 shots en route to his first win as a Cardinal on Nov. 5, 2016. … The Cardinals are 12-1-2 in the last 15 games in which they limit their opponent to two goals or less. … With their 4-2 win over Lake Forest on Nov. 25, Saint Mary's snapped its season-high five-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's has scored 16 its goals 33 goals in the third period. … Saint Mary's has been outscored 18-5 in the first period and 21-16 in the second. … Saint Mary's is 2-3-0 when scoring first, while going 1-7-2 when its opponent scores the game's opening goal.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Concordia's game against Saint Mary's Friday was the Cobbers' first home game since beating Bethel 2-1 on Nov. 18. CC had played its last eight games on the road, where the Cobbers own a 3-4-1 record. … With Friday's 5-4 overtime win over Saint Mary's, the Cobbers' last four games have all been decided by one goal—prior to Friday, the Cobbers beat Milwaukee School of Engineering (4-3), before falling to UW-Stevens Point (3-2) and UW-Eau Claire (2-1). … Eleven of Concordia's 16 games have been decided by one goal or less. … Matt Bianchi enters Saturday's rematch against Saint Mary's leading the team in points with 18. Bianchi is one of five Cobbers with 10 or more points—Jon Grebosky (15), Zach Doerring (14), Dalton Mills (12), and Tanner Okeson (11) are the others. … Doerring is the team-leader with nine goals, while Bianchi and Grebosky lead the team in assists with 12 and 11 helpers, respectively. … Three of Doerring's nine goals have come on the power play. … Concordia has not scored a shorthanded goal this season. … The Cobbers' seven game-winning goals have come from six different players—Bianchi, Doerring, Quinn Fuchs, Mills, Jake Ellingson, Bryan Kronberger, and Zak Lambrecht. … Concordia's 47 goals have come from 15 different players, while 23 Cobbers have recorded at least one point. … Jacob Stephan and Sam Nelson have shared the goaltending duties for the Cobbers. Stephan owns a 2.27 goals-against-average and .916 save percentage in nine appearances, while Nelson boasts a 3.14 GAA and .902 save percentage in eight games. … Nelson has made 230 saves, while Stephan is close behind with 206 saves. … Concordia has now played five overtime games this season, going 2-0-3. Along Friday's 5-4 win over Saint Mary's, CC also beat Milwaukee School of Engineering in OT on Dec. 30, while tying Gustavus (1-1), UW-River Falls (3-3), and Hamline (7-7). … The Cobbers rallied from a 7-2 deficit in their 7-7 tie against Hamline on Dec. 9. It was the largest deficit overcome for a win or a tie in program history. … Concordia has scored first in 10 of its 16 games this season. CC is 6-3-1 when netting the game's first goal, while going 1-3-2 when its opponent scores first.