By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team returns from the holiday break with a pair of conference games against Concordia, beginning with Friday's 7 p.m. MIAC showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-3-2 MIAC, 2-9-3 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (5-0-1 MIAC, 9-4-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—December 7-8, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals split their two nonconference games against UW-Superior at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena before the Christmas break, falling to the Yellowjackets 5-2 in the opener on Dec. 7, before rebounding with a 4-2 win in the rematch the following afternoon | UW-Superior Recap 1 * UW-Stevens Point Recap 2
• Concordia—January 4-5, 2019 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Cobbers dropped a pair of nonconference games at the Moorhead Sports Center last weekend, falling to UW-Stevens Point 3-2 on Friday, before dropping an 8-1 decision to UW-Eau Claire the following day | UW-SP Recap * UW-EC Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia — Earlier This Year:
• October 27, 2018 * Blaine, Minn.: The Cardinals more than doubled their offensive output in their second game of the MIAC Hockey Showcase. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, three goals was enough for 60 minutes — but it was not enough for 63, as Concordia scored the game-winning goal three minutes into overtime, handing Saint Mary's a 4-3 setback at the Schwan's Super Rink | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia — A Year Ago:
• January 12, 2018 * Moorhead, Minn.: Despite scoring a combined eight goals — 60 minutes was not enough to decide a winner, as Concordia's Dalton Mills scored with 1:53 remaining in overtime to lift the Cobbers to a 5-4 victory at the Moorhead Sports Center | Recap
• January 13, 2018 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Cardinals rattled off four unanswered goals — and got a goal and two assists from both Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) — en route to a 5-3 victory over the Cobbers, and a split in the team's two-game conference series at the Moorhead Sports Center | 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. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Friday's game against Concordia is the third straight home game for the Cardinals, who opened the season playing 10 of their first 12 games away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With their split against UW-Superior on Dec. 7-8, the Cardinals are now 2-1-2 in their last five games. … Thanks to their 4-2 win over UW-Superior on Dec. 8, 12 of the Cardinals' 14 games this season have been decided by two goals or less — including eight decided by one goal or less and six that have gone into overtime. … The Cardinals' 5-2 loss to UW-Superior on Dec. 7 snapped their streak of three straight overtime games. … Saint Mary's 4-3 overtime win over Saint John's on Dec. 1 put an end to the Cardinals' season-opening 11-game winless streak (0-8-3). … The Cardinals equaled their single-game season high with their four-goal effort against UW-Superior on Dec. 8. Saint Mary's also scored four goals against both Saint John's on Dec. 1 and Lake Forest on Nov. 24. … Saint Mary's has now scored 17 goals in its last five games. … Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.) scored a goal in both games against UW-Superior on Dec. 7-8. Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.) netted Saint Mary's other goal in Saint Mary's 5-2 loss to the Yellowjackets on Dec. 7, while Tucker Chapman (Rochester, Minn.), Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.), and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) also found the back of the net in the Cardinals' 4-2 the following day. … Chapman's goal against UW-Superior on Dec. 8 was his first collegiate goal. … Hatton had his three-game goal-scoring streak snapped against UW-Superior on Dec. 8. Hatton was the third Cardinal to put together a three-game goal-scoring streak this season, joining Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) and Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario). … Liverance, Hatton, DiBacco, and Tommy Stang all head into this weekend's conference series against Concordia sharing the team lead in goals with five each. … Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) pushed his team-leading assist total to 10 with three helpers against UW-Superior on Dec. 7-8. Robertson has recorded five assists in his last three games. … Liverance is the team's points leader with 11, followed by Robertson with 10 and Tommy Stang with nine. … Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) collected his first collegiate two-goal game with a pair of tallies 25 seconds apart in Saint Mary's 4-4 tie against Lake Forest on Nov. 24. … Liverance had a hand in all three goals — scoring once and assisting on the other two — in Saint Mary's 5-3 loss to St. Thomas on Nov. 3. … All three of the Cardinals' goals in their 3-3 tie against St. Thomas on Nov. 2 were scored by freshmen. Liverance picked up his first two collegiate goals, while Hatton scored the other. … Stoynich and Sikich have also scored their first collegiate goals this season. Stoynich netted his first goal in a Cardinal uniform against Augsburg on Nov. 16, while Sikich found the back of the net against Concordia on Oct. 27. … Saint Mary's has netted 11 power-play goals this season, with Hatton and Tommy Stang leading the way with three each, while Liverance and DiBacco have both scored two. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) made 38 saves in the Cardinals' 4-2 win over UW-Superior on Dec. 8. It was the third time in four starts that Rogers has stopped 30 or more shots — including a season- and career-high 43 against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 10. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) owns four games of 30 or more saves this season. … Nast — who collected his first collegiate assist against Gustavus on Oct. 26 — heads into Saint Mary's conference series against Concordia with a 3.03 goals-against-average and a .895 save percentage. … Rogers boasts a 3.21 GAA and .912 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored 12 of its 33 goals in the third period. The Cardinals have found the back of the 10 times in both the first and second periods. On the flip side, the Cardinals have surrendered 46 goals through 14 games — including 17 in the second period and 18 in the third stanza. … The Cardinals have scored first in eight of their 14 games, going 2-4-2 in those eight contests. Saint Mary's is 0-5-1 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … Six of Saint Mary's first 10 opponents were nationally ranked — including a 3-2 loss to No. 1 UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 9. Two of SMU's other four opponents — Concordia and Gustavus — both qualified for the MIAC Playoffs a year ago.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• Last weekend's games against UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire were the sixth and seventh straight home games for the Cobbers, who are 6-3-0 at the Moorhead Sports Center this season. … Last Friday's 3-2 loss to top-ranked UW-Stevens Point snapped the Cobbers' six-game winning streak, not to mention their eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2). … Kyle Siemers and Matt Donnelly accounted for Concordia's two goals in its 3-2 loss to No. 1 UW-Stevens Point last Friday, while Jacen Bracko netted CC's lone goal against UW-Eau Claire the following day. … Donnelly's second-period tally vs. UW-Stevens Point was his first in a Concordia jersey. … Aaron Herdt and Mario Bianchi head into this weekend's showdown against Saint Mary's combining for 23 goals — 12 by Herdt and 11 from Bianchi. … Tyler Bossert has amassed a team-leading 21 assists, while also leading the team with 28 points. … Bossert is one of four Cobbers with 10 or more points through 15 games, being joined by Bianchi (21), Herdt (21), and Bracko (10). … Concordia has netted 12 power-play goals this season, with Herdt accounting for five of them. … Herdt also owns five game-winning goals, two more than Bianchi. … Bianchi scored five of his 11 goals at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase, scoring twice against Saint Mary's and netting all three goals in CC's 3-0 win over Gustavus. … Jacob Stephan and Cam Haugenoe have shared the goaltending duties, with Stephan compiling a 1.69 goals-against-average and .947 save percent in 10 starts, while Haugenoe boasts a 3.52 GAA and .892 save percentage in five starts. … Stephan has stopped 305 of the 322 shots he's faced, with Haugenoe chipping in 148 saves. … Stephan has been between the pipes for all three Concordia shutouts this season — stopping a season-high 42 shots in a 3-0 win over Gustavus on Oct. 28, before adding a 27-save effort in shutting out Bethel 4-0 on Nov 17 and kicking out all 33 Hamline shots in CC's 7-0 win over Hamline on Dec. 7. … Concordia has scored three of more goals in all nine of its wins this season — including a season-high seven-goal outburst in routing Hamline 7-0 on Dec. 7. On the flip side, UW-Eau Claire's eight goals in last Saturday's 8-1 win over CC were the most allowed by the Cobbers this season — and the most since surrendering nine in falling to Saint John's 9-1 on Jan. 19, 2018. … Concordia is 1-2 in one-goal games this season, beating Saint Mary's 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 26, while falling to UW-River Falls (5-4) on Nov. 9 and UW-Stevens Point (3-2) on Jan. 4. … The Cobbers have outscored their opponent in every period — 16-11 in the first, 21-16 in the second, and 17-9 in the third. … Concordia is 7-1-1 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 2-3-1 when its opponent scores first.