Seven Cobbers Earn Postseason Honors

MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/04/19)---Concordia placed seven players on the MIAC postseason honor teams as selected by the conference coaches.

Mario Bianchi, Tyler Bossert, Aaron Herdt and Tanner Okeson were all named to the MIAC All-Conference team while Jacob Stephan and Alex Stoley received MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention honors and Jacen Bracko was placed on the All-Rookie Team. Bianchi was also the team's selection for the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

The Cobber postseason honor crew helped Concordia finish in a tie for third place in the final MIAC standings with a 9-5-2 record. CC had a 13-9-3 overall record. The nine league wins are the most for the Cobbers since the 2013 season and the 13 overall wins are the top total since 2017.

Bianchi and Okeson are the only players in the group who have earned MIAC honors in previous seasons. Bianchi was named to the MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention Team last year and Okeson earned an All-MIAC award.

Bianchi capped his Cobber career with his best-ever season. He was second on the team in scoring in league games. Bianchi had six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in the 16 conference games. He was tied for third in the MIAC in points in conference games and third in assists. Bianchi had at least one point in  11 of the 16 league games.

Bianchi ended the year with 33 total points which is the most in a single-season in his four-year career. He had 90 total points in 98 total games for the Cobbers.

Bossert and Herdt provided an instant spark to the Cobber offense after joining Concordia in the fall. The pair teamed with Bianchi to form the top line in the conference.

Bossert led the MIAC in total points and assists. He finished the conference schedule with eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points. He had six multiple-point games against league opponents and came away with a season-high five points against St. John's on Jan. 18. Bossert also led the MIAC in shorthanded points. He recorded a goal and three assists when CC was killing penalties.

Herdt had 11 goals and six assists after only playing in 14 MIAC games. He led the conference in game-winning goals with five and was tied for fifth in total points and his 11 total goals were second in the MIAC. Herdt posted at least one point in 11 of his 14 conference contests and had three points vs. Hamline on Dec. 7.

Okeson was the team's top defenseman and helped the Cobbers finish fourth in scoring defense. He was also a big part of the team's special teams which led the league in combined special teams net. Okeson finished the year tied for second in the conference in scoring by a defenseman. He had two goals and nine assists for 11 points in MIAC games.       

Stephan was the team's starting goalie and played in all 16 conference games. He finished with a 2.31 goals against average and 93.1% save percentage. He was ranked fifth in the league in GAA and fith in save percentage.

Stoley played in all 16 conference games and helped the Cobber penalty kill unit finish second in the MIAC. CC killed off 91.9% of all the penalties they faced. Stoley had two goals and three assists for five points in league play.     

Bracko was also a big part of Concordia's power play unit which was second in the conference with a 24.1% success rate. Bracko had the second highest goal total of any freshman in the league. He was also 10th in the MIAC in total points by a freshman as he finished with seven goals and two assists for nine points.  

2018-19 MIAC Men's Hockey Awards
Player of the Year – Nick Schmit | G | Augsburg (Sr. | Fargo, N.D. | Fargo North)
Coach of the Year – Chris Brown | Augsburg (13th season)