Concordia Hosts MIAC Quarterfinal Game

MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/18/19)—Concordia will host St. Mary's in the quarterfinal game of the MIAC men's playoff on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center. The Cobbers are making their seventh straight MIAC playoff appearance and eighth in the past nine years.

Below you will find all the information you need to get ready for the "second season".

TICKET INFORMATION: The first 75 Cobber students will be admitted free of charge. Ticket prices for all others are $10 for adults and $2 for any students (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored. No other passes will be accepted.

WHAT: MIAC Men's Hockey Quarterfinals

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Moorhead Sports Center – Moorhead, Minn.

TEAMS: No.5 Seed St. Mary's (8-14-3/7-7-2 MIAC) at No.4 Seed Concordia (13-9-3/9-5-2 MIAC)

LIVE LINKS:  Live Video | Live Stats

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Concordia finished with 31 conference points with a 9-5-2 record in league play. The Cobbers tied for third place with St. Thomas in the final MIAC standings but lost the tiebreaker because CC lost and tied at UST in the regular season series. Concordia finished the conference season by going 2-2. They started out league play with a 5-0-1 mark before the Christmas break. The Cobbers entered the final weekend of the season in second place but then lost a pair of close games at regular-season champion Augsburg. St. Mary's went 3-1 in their final four games of the regular season and are coming off a sweep against St. Olaf. The Cardinals clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 5-2 win at home on Friday and then gained the sweep with a 2-1 victory in Northfield on Saturday. St. Mary's had 24 points in the conference after posting a 7-7-2 league mark. SMU is 8-14-3 overall.

RECORDS VS. OTHER PLAYOFF TEAMS: Concordia went 3-5-1 against MIAC playoff teams this year including a 2-1 record against St. Mary's which included a 4-3 overtime win in the season-opening MIAC Showcase back in October. The Cardinals have a 2-5-2 record against playoff teams.

HOME AND AWAY: Concordia was 9-4-0 at home this year in all games. The Cobbers were 7-1 at home against MIAC teams. St. Mary's was 2-9-3 on the road this year including a pair of neutral ice games. The Cardinals were 2-4-2 on the road in conference games.     

PLAYOFF PEDIGREE: Concordia is making its seventh consecutive playoff appearance and eighth in the past nine seaosns. It will be the 15th overall spot in the league playoffs and CC is 7-15-1 all-time in the conference playoffs which included two-game series back in the late 90's. Head Coach Chris Howe has made the conference postseason in eight of his 11 seasons at the helm of CC. The Cobbers have advanced to the finals of the league tournament on three occasions. The last time Concordia made it to the MIAC title game was back in 2011 when they fell at Hamline. It will be the first home MIAC playoff game for the Cobbers since 2016 when they dropped a 3-0 decision to Hamline in the quarterfinals. CC is 2-3 all-time at home in the conference playoffs and 2-4 in the quarterfinals. St. Mary's is making its third MIAC playoff appearance in the last five seasons and first since the 2017 season when they lost at Augsburg 5-4 in OT in the MIAC semifinals. It is also their 13th playoff appearance against MIAC teams. The Cardinals are 7-14-1 overall in the playoffs against MIAC teams. The Cardinals are 0-1 in MIAC quarterfinal games with their only appearance coming in 2004 at home against St. Olaf. SMU advanced to the MIAC title game in 2015 after beating the Cobbers in double OT at home in the semifinals. Before 2015 the previous playoff appearance for SMU came in 2004.

PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS: The teams have only played one other time in MIAC playoffs and that came back in 2015 with St. Mary's winning 4-3 in double overtime.

REGULAR SEASON MATCH-UPS: The teams split their regular-season series in Winona but Concordia holds a 2-1 edge in 2019 thanks to a 4-3 overtime win in the MIAC Showcase in Blaine in the season opener on Oct. 27. Concordia scored a single goal in each period and trailed 3-2 in the third period before Jacen Bracko tied the game at 3-3 and then Mario Bianchi won it at the 3:21 mark of the OT session. Cam Haugenoe got the win as he stopped 22 shots. The Cobbers then won the series opener 5-3 when they broke open a 3-3 tie after two periods. Bracko scored the eventual game-winning goal at 11:37 of the final period and then Alex Stoley added an empty-net tally. Jacob Stephan made 33 saves in that game.  The series finale was all SMU as they bolted to a 3-0 lead after one period and then led 6-0 midway through the third. CC added a pair of goals late to bring the final total to 7-2. Stephan was the goalie of record for the Cobbers in the finale as well.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: How each team ranks in the MIAC for conference games only.

STAT STARS: Concordia is led by sophomore Tyler Bossert who led the MIAC in scoring in conference games. He had 8 goals and 16 assists for 24 points in 16 league games. 10 goals and 28 assists for 38 points. Bossert is also tied for the lead in assists in MIAC games. Bossert's linemates are also in the Top 5 of the MIAC. Senior Mario Bianchi is fourth with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points and junior Aaron Herdt is tied for fifth with 11 goals and six assists for 17 points. His 11 goals is second most in the MIAC.

St. Mary's has three players tied for 15th in the MIAC in scoring in league games. Tommy Stang and Jack Hatton both have six goals and seven assists for 13 points while Owen Sikich has five goals and eight assists for 13 points.

Cobber starting goalie Jacob Stephan is fifth in goals against average (2.31) and fifth in save percentage (93.1%). St. Mary's starter Nick Nast is seventh in goals against (2.60) and eighth in save percentage (90.9%).

GAME WINNER GURU: Cobber forward Aaron Herdt leads the MIAC in game-winning goals. He has scored five of the team's nine game winners in MIAC play.

POWER PLAY POWER: Concordia's M-A-T line is 1-2-3 in power play points. Aaron Herdt leads with six goals and three assists for nine points on the PP. He is tied with Tyler Bossert who has two goals and seven assists. Senior Mario Bianchi is third with two goals and six assists for eight points.

SHORT-HANDED STAR: Concordia sophomore Tyler Bossert leads the MIAC in shorthanded points. He has a goal and three assists when CC is killing penalties.             

FUTURE IS BRIGHT: St. Mary's freshmen Jack Hatton and Owen Sikich are tied for second in scoring by a freshman. Both players have 13 points.