By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team returns to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain Concordia in the second game of their two-game MIAC series. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-4-2 MIAC, 2-10-3 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (6-0-1 MIAC, 10-4-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Night:
• January 11, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Concordia scored a pair of third-period goals — including an empty-netter with 50 seconds remaining — as the Cobbers dealt the Cardinals a 5-3 MIAC setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | 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 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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back on their home ice at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena next Thursday, hosting UW-Stout in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game.
• Concordia: The Cobbers return home to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., next weekend for a pair of MIAC games against Saint John's. CC and SJU will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, before returning to the ice for the 2 p.m. rematch the following afternoon.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Concordia is the fourth 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 5-3 loss to Concordia on Friday, the Cardinals are now 2-2-2 in their last six games. … Thirteen of the Cardinals' 15 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. … With their three-goal effort against Concordia Friday, Saint Mary's has now scored 20 goals in its last six games. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.), and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) scored the Cardinals' three goals against Concordia on Friday. … Sikich has now scored goals in three straight games — have also netted a goal in both of the Cardinals' games against UW-Superior on Dec. 7-8. … Sikich is the fourth Cardinal to put together a three-game goal-scoring streak, joining Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.), Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario), and Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.). … DiBacco, Liverance, Hatton, and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) head into Saturday's conference rematch against Concordia sharing the team lead in goals with five each. … Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) pushed his team-leading assist total to 11 with an assist against Concordia Friday. Robertson has recorded six assists in his last four games. … Liverance and Robertson are the team's points leader with 11, followed by Tommy Stang with 10. … Meeh 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. … Saint Mary's boasts five players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season — Liverance, Hatton, Stoynich, Sikich, and Tucker Chapman (Rochester, Minn.). … 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 37 saves in the Cardinals' 5-3 loss to Concordia Friday. It was the fourth time in five 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 rematch with Concordia with a 3.03 goals-against-average and a .895 save percentage. … Rogers boasts a 3.38 GAA and .910 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored first in eight of their 15 games, going 2-4-2 in those eight contests. Saint Mary's is 0-6-1 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
• The Cobbers are in a stretch in which they play nine of 11 games on their home ice — the lone exceptions, this weekend's contests against Saint Mary's. … With Friday's 5-3 win over the Cardinals, Concordia is 3-1-2 away from home this season, while going 6-3-0 at the Moorhead Sports Center. … Concordia's 3-2 loss to top-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 4 snapped the Cobbers' six-game winning streak, not to mention their eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2).
Joe Burgmeier scored twice against the Cardinals Friday, while Alex Stoley, Jacen Bracko, and Tyler Bossert accounted for the Cobbers' other three goals. … Bracko has now scored goals in back-to-back games, having netted CC's lone goal against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 5. … Aaron Herdt leads the Cobbers with 12 goals, one more than Mario Bianchi, while Bossert is the team's assist leader with 21. … Bossert owns a team-high 29 points and is one of five Cobbers with 10 or more points through 16 games — Bianchi (22), Herdt (21), Bracko (11), and Tanner Okeson (10) are the others. … 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 1.81 goals-against-average and .944 save percent in 11 starts, while Haugenoe boasts a 3.52 GAA and .892 save percentage in five starts. … Stephan has stopped 338 of the 358 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 10 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 its 8-1 win over CC on Jan. 5 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 — 18-13 in the first, 22-17 in the second, and 19-9 in the third. … Concordia is 8-1-1 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 2-3-1 when its opponent scores first.