MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team has done everything it can done — now the waiting begins.
The Cardinals completed their sweep of Concordia Saturday afternoon, getting the game-winning goal from
Gabe Potyk (Orion, Mich.) with nine second remaining in regulation in beating the Cobbers 3-2, and left the Moorhead Sports Center maintaining its perch in fourth place in the MIAC standings — and assured of a home playoff game.
Unfortunately, while the Cardinals regular season had come to a close at approximately 4:10 p.m., the rest of the conference was still prepping for their 7 p.m. conference finales — leaving Saint Mary's wondering who their opening-round opponent would be in next Wednesday's MIAC Playoff quarterfinal game.
And that opponent will be St. Olaf, which knocked off Gustavus in its final regular-season game, earning the No. 5 slot in the five-team tournament.
For the second game in a row, the Cardinals found themselves savoring a 2-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes, getting first-period tallies from
Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.) at 7:08 of the opening stanza and from
Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with 1:29 remaining.
The Cardinals maintained that 2-0 advantage through the second period, only to have Concordia come up with back-to-back goals in the first 11 minutes of the final frame to knot the game at 2-2.
With the Cobbers needing nothing short of a regulation win to keep their slim post-season hopes alive, CC pulled its goal with less than a minute to play, and Potyk made them pay, scoring his fifth of the season to secure the SMU win — and the coveted home playoff game.
A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) recorded his second straight 45-save effort between the pipes for the Cardinals, who were outshot 47-25. Ruskowski has now made 30 or more saves in all 12 of his starts this season.
With the win, the Cardinals closed out conference play with an 8-7-1 record, while improving to 10-13-2 overall heading into post-season play.
