SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 6-7-1 MIAC, 8-13-2 Overall

CONCORDIA COBBERS

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2023-24: 5-7-2 MIAC, 10-10-3 Overall

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SMU-CON * LAST MEETING:

Feb. 17-18, 2023 * Winona, MN

L, 7-1; L, 4-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 9-10, 2024 * Winona, MN

St. Scholastica * W, 4-2; L, 4-1

CONCORDIA * LAST ACTION:

Feb.9-10, 2024 * St. Peter, MN

Gustavus * L, 7-2; L, 5-4 (ot)

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

End of Regular Season

CONCORDIA * UP NEXT: 

End of Regular Season

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into this weekend’s regular season-ending two-game series at Concordia sitting at 8-13-2 overall, including sporting a 6-7-1 record after its first eight MIAC contests.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals earned a split in its conference series against third-place St. Scholastica last weekend at the SMU Ice Arena, rallying from a 2-1 deficit with three unanswered third-period goals in a 4-2 win last Friday, only to have the Saints turn the tables with a 4-1 win in the rematch.

• PLAYOFF PICTURE: Saint Mary’s is currently in sixth place with 20 points in the chase for one of the five MIAC Playoff berth. The Cardinals are one point back of St. Olaf for the fifth and final slot and two points behind idle Saint John’s, while holding a one-point edge on this weekend’s opponent, Concordia. One regulation win over the Cobbers – or three-points in the two-game series — would lock SMU into a playoff slot. … Saint John’s has completed its regular-season schedule, while St. Olaf faces off against Gustavus this weekend. 

• HOME SWEET HOME: Last weekend’s games against St. Scholastica were the final two home contests of the regular season for the Cardinals, who closed out their 12-game home slate boasting a 7-3-2. The Cardinals picked up their first win away from the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena (1-10-0) with their 3-2 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 13.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Colin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.) head into the final weekend of the regular season sharing the team lead in goals with six each. … Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia) and Noah Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) are sitting third with five goals, followed by Gabe Potyk (Orion, Mich.) with four, and Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.) and Carter Newpower (Cottage Grove, Minn.) with three each. … Winter netted SMU’s first goal of the season at 3:13 of the first period in SMU’s 6-3 loss to MSOE on Oct. 28.

• DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS: The 10 goals by both Tushie and Winter mark the first time the Cardinals have had two players with 10 or more goals in the same season since Kyle Meeh and Tommy Stang finished with 13 and 11 goals, respectively, during the 2019-20 season.

• FIRST COLLEGIATE GOAL: SMU boasts seven players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season — Newpower, Jake Vaughn (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Connor Abric (Hayward, Wis.), Blake Arneson (Red Wing, Minn.), Clay Allen (Anchorage, Alaska), Cooper Smyl (Fairfield, Calif.), and Noah Kiemel. … Saint Mary’s had six players who scored their first goals in a Cardinal uniform a year ago.

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: Saint Mary’s eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21 came from seven different players — with Winter the only Cardinal with more than one tally — while SMU’s four goals in the rematch against the Vikings on Jan. 16, and its four goals against Bethel on Jan. 26-27, were scored by four different players. … SMU’s 12 points (4 G, 8 A) against Gustavus on Dec. 2 came from 11 different players — only Tushie (2 G) had more than one point.

• TOSSING THE HAT: Tushie recorded his first collegiate hat trick in the Cardinals’ 5-3 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 12. It’s the third hat trick in the last two seasons for the Cardinals, who got three-goal games from Sheberov and Brady Lindauer a year ago.

• MULTIPLE GOALS: With his two goals against Saint John’s on Feb. 1, Tushie has now recorded three multiple-goal games this season, having also netted three goals against St. Olaf on Jan. 12 and a pair of tallies against Gustavus on Dec. 1. … Winter boasts two multiple-goal games this season, scoring twice against Lawrence on Nov. 21 and twice vs. Northland on Jan. 5. … Newpower and Noah Kiemel have accounted for SMU’s other two multiple-goal games — Newpower found the back of the net twice against Northland on Jan. 5, while Kiemel scored twice against St. Olaf on Jan. 13.

• LENDING A HAND: SMU has four players — Tushie, Winter, Jack Campion (Crystal, Minn.), and Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) — who all share the team lead with seven assists each, one more than Callahan Nauss (Maple Plain, Minn.). … Poellinger owns the team’s single-game season-high with three assists against Northland on Jan. 5.

• POINT PRODUCERS: With their 10 goals and seven assists, both Tushie and Winter share the top spot in points with 17. Sheberov is one point from joining the double-figure points club, sitting with nine, followed by Campion, Poellinger, Callahan Nauss, and Tharaldson with eight apiece. … SMU has gotten at least one point from 26 different players. … Tushie recorded a single-game season- and career-high four points with his three goals and an assist against St. Olaf on Jan. 12. … Winter (2 G, 1 A) and Poellinger (3 A) have recorded season-high three-point games this season.

• NETTING THE GAME-WINNER: Winter leads the team with two game-winning goals, with Tushie, Poellinger, Tharaldson, Nauss, Noah Kiemel, Nick Kiemel, and Callahan Nauss netting the Cardinals’ other five game-winners.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) has started 12 of SMU’s 17 games in goal, compiling a 3.48 goals-against-average and .892 save percentage. … A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) has made the other 11 starts between the pipes, boasting a 3.52 GAA and .909 save %. … Ruskowski finished with 81 saves in SMU’s split against St. Scholastica last weekend — including a career-high 48-save effort in the Cardinals’ 4-2 last Friday. … Ruskowski, who owns 379 saves, has stopped 30 or more shots in all 11 starts this season. … Sankner locked up his second career shutout in SMU’s 2-0, conference-opening win over Hamline on Nov. 3, stopping all 24 shots he faced. … Sankner has amassed 348 saves in 13 starts — including a season-high 37-save effort against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 10.

• SCORING FIRST: Saint Mary’s has scored first in 11 of its 23 games, going 8-2-1 when netting the game’s first goal. … SMU is now 22-7-1 when scoring first since the start of the 2021-22 season, while going 3-25-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• WORKING OVERTIME: Saint Mary’s 2-1 win over Bethel on Jan. 26 was its third overtime game of the season, having also battled Gustavus (4-4) and the University of Dubuque (2-2) to draws.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Forty-two of Saint Mary’s 57 goals have come at even strength. … SMU has gone 15-for-91 with the man advantage through 23 games (16.5 %), and scored a season-high three power-play goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21. … SMU’s opponents, meanwhile, have netted 18 of their 86 goals on the power play, going 18-for-83 with the man advantage (21.7 %). … Saint Mary’s has been called for just one penalty in a game twice — vs. Lawrence on Nov. 21 and against Bethel on Jan. 26. … SMU has scored 13 times in the first period, 20 times in the second, and 23 in the third. Forty of the 86 goals allowed by the Cardinals have come in the second period. SMU has also surrendered 20 first-period goals and 26 in the game’s final stanza. … SMU’s eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21 were a season-high, and the most since beating St. Olaf 8-2 on Jan. 13, 2023. … The Cardinals posted a season-high 49 shots on goal against the University of Dubuque on Dec. 8. It was SMU’s highest shot total since peppering the Bethel net with 58 SOG on Feb. 18, 2022.

CONCORDIA SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cobbers take to the ice this weekend against Saint Mary’s sitting at 10-10-3 overall, while owning a 5-7-2 record in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Concordia came up empty in its two conference games against Gustavus last weekend in St. Peter, Minn., falling to the Gusties 7-2 in the opener last Friday, before dropping a 5-4 decision in overtime the following afternoon.

• HOME SWEET HOME: This weekend’s two-game series against Saint Mary’s marks the final two home games of the regular season for the Cobbers, who are 6-3-3 on their home sheet this season. … Concordia closed out its road schedule last weekend with a pair of losses at Gustavus, finishing the year 4-7-0 away from the Moorhead Sports Center — including a 4-2 outdoor game win over St. Olaf on Jan. 26 as part of Hockey Day Minnesota.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe heads into the Cobbers’ regular-season finales against Saint Mary’s leading the team with 11 goals. Mason Plante is currently second on the team with nine goals, followed by Hunter Olson with eight, and Cole O’Connell and Hanson O’Leary with six each. … Plante owns a team-leading three two-goal games this season, while Olson and Henkemeyer-Howe have also netted two goals in a game this season.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: CC boasts three players who have reached double figures in assists, led by Joe Marguindeguy and Bauer Barry with 13. Plante is third on the team with 12 helpers, with both O’Connell and Tai Halliday one assist from joining the double-figure club, each sitting with nine. … O’Connell and Marguindeguy have both posted season-high three-assist games this season.

• POINT PRODUCERS: With his nine goals and 12 assists, Plante is the team-leader in points with 21. He is one of nine CC players with 10+ points, being joined by Henkemeyer-Howe (19), Olson (15), O’Connell (15), Marguindeguy (15), O’Leary (13), Barry )13), Caden Triggs (12), and Liam Haslam (11). … O’Connell racked up a single-game, season-high four points (1 G, 3 A) against UW-Stout on Jan. 13.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: The Cobbers have used three different goalies between the pipes this season, led by Matt Fitzgerald, who has made 16 starts (969:01), compiling a 2.97 goals-against-average and an .889 save percentage. Dane Couture boasts a 2.94 GAA and .873 save percentage in six starts (407:30), while Brock Moroz has appeared in three games (15:09, 15.84 GAA, .556 save %). … Fitzgerald has stopped 383 of the 431 shots he’s faced, with Couture boasting 138 saves. … Fitzgerald owns the team’s lone shutout, stopping all 22 shots he faced against UW-Superior on Nov. 4.

• WORKING OVERTIME: Last Saturday’s 5-4 loss to Gustavus was the Cobbers’ sixth overtime game of the season. Concordia defeated Saint John’s (4-3), while falling to Hamline (3-2) and Gustavus (4-3), and tying Aurora (2-2), Bethel (4-4), and Augsburg (2-2).

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: The Cobbers have been outscored 76-73, including 23-18 in the first period. CC holds a 26-23 edge in the second period, with both CC and its opponents netting 28 third-period goals. … Concordia has scored 19 power-play goals, going 19-for-90 (21.1 %) with the man advantage. On the flip side, the Cobbers have allowed 15 PP goals on 78 opportunities (19.2 %). … The Cobbers amassed season-highs in goals (7), assists (13), and points (20) in a 7-1 win over UW-Stout on Jan. 13, and delivered a season-best 47 shots on goal against Bethel on Jan. 19. … Gustavus’ seven goals in last Friday’s 7-2 win over the Cobbers were the most allowed by CC all season, as were the 12 assists and 19 points