Stephan Named Co-Player of the Year
MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/10/20)---Senior goalie Jacob Stephan (Eagle River, Wis.) used the league's best goals against average, save percentage and winning percentage to earn MIAC Co-Player of the Year honors. Stephan was also one of six Concordia players to earn conference postseason awards as voted on by the league coaches.
Stephan, Tyler Bossert (Jr., Fargo, N.D.), Aaron Herdt (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.) and Tanner Okeson (Sr., Roseau, Minn.) all received MIAC All-Conference honors while Jacen Bracko (So., Calgary, Alta.) and Alex Stoley (Jr., Manteca, Calif.) were placed on the All-Conference Honorable Mention Team.
Alex Mimmack (Sr., Brainerd, Minn.) was selected by the Concordia coaching staff for the MIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
The award winners helped Concordia earn its highest regular-season MIAC finish since 2001. The Cobbers went 10-5-1 in conference games in 2020 and the 10 league wins are the most since 2013. Concordia also advanced to the MIAC playoff championship game for the first time since 2011 and hosted the title game for the first time since 1987.
Stephan becomes the second Concordia player in the past three seasons to earn MIAC Player of the Year honors. Zach Doerring won the award after the 2018 season. Stephan is also the sixth player in program history to be named the top player in the league. Caleb Suderman was named the conference MVP in 2014. Goalie Bryan Howard earned the top MIAC award in 2001 while Mike Hassman was the league MVP in 1990 and Mark Rice garnered the honor in 1987.
All four MIAC All-Conference award winners are repeat honorees. Stephan earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors last year while Bossert and Herdt were named to the All-Conference Team in 2019 and Okeson received the honor in 2018. Stoley also receives All-Conference Honorable Mention honors for the second straight season.
Stephan led all MIAC goaltenders in GAA (1.63), save percentage (.938), wins (8), and winning percentage (.773) in conference play this season. He started 11 of the 16 conference games in 2020 and finished the regular season an 8-2-1 record.
He allowed two of fewer goals in 10 of the 11 conference games he started and only allowed a single goal in five games. Stephan also won five of his last six starts to help the Cobbers vault to their second-place finish.
Stephan finished his time in maroon and gold by playing in 65 games and posted a 2.51 career GAA. His career GAA is the lowest in program history. Stephan also won 31 games which is in the Top 3 in the history of the program for goalie victories.
Bossert was third in the MIAC in assists in 2020. He finished the 16 MIAC games with 12 helpers. He also had four assists which gave him a team-leading 16 points in league play. He had at least one point in 10 games and had five multiple-point games.
Herdt led the team in goals scored and was second on the team in scoring. His seven conference goals was tied for seventh most in the MIAC. He also finished the year with 12 total points which was in the Top 15 of the league. Herdt had at least one point in 10 MIAC games and had a goal in seven games. He also scored three game-winning goals which was second most in the conference.
Okeson led by example as the team's captain and top defenseman. He played in all 16 conference games and led Cobber blueliners in scoring with six points. He was also third on the team in assists in MIAC games with five. His six points put him in the Top 15 in the league in scoring by a defenseman.
Okeson finished his Cobber career by playing in 106 games and recording 37 assists and 48 points.
Bracko played in 15 of the 16 league games this year and finished with six goals and two assists for eight points. His six goals was second most on the team and tied for 13th in the MIAC. Bracko's top game of the league season came on Jan. 25 in Concordia's win at Hamline when he scored the game-winning goal and had a season-high three points.
Stoley played in all 16 MIAC games and continued to improve his game as one of the top 2-way defensemen in the league. Stoley had two goals and two assists during the conference season and scored the game-winning goal against Gustavus in the Cobbers' 3-2 win in St. Peter on Feb. 7.
2019-20 MIAC MEN'S HOCKEY AWARDS
Co-Player of the Year: Jacob Stephan, Concordia (Sr. | Eagle River, Wis. | Northland Pines)
Co-Player of the Year: Caleb Anderson, Gustavus (Jr. | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Lincoln)
Coach of the Year: Doug Schueller, Saint John's (12th season)
2019-20 MIAC Men's Hockey All-Conference Team
| Position | Name | Institution | Class | Hometown | High School | Previous Selections |
| F | Caleb Anderson | Gustavus | Jr. | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Lincoln | -- |
| F | Tyler Bossert | Concordia | Jr. | Fargo, N.D. | Shanley | 2019 |
| F | Brett Gravelle | St. Thomas | Sr. | Forest Lake, Minn. | 2018 | 2019 |
| F | Brady Heppner | Saint John's | Sr. | Crookston, Minn. | 2018 | 2019 |
| F | Aaron Herdt | Concordia | Sr. | Moorhead, Minn. | 2019 |
| F | Jack Johnson | Saint John's | Fr. | Bemidji, Minn. | -- |
| F | Austin Martinsen | Augsburg | Jr. | Farmington, Minn. | -- |
| F | Auggie Moore | Saint John's | Fr. | Edina, Minn. | Benilde-St. Margaret's | -- |
| F | John Peterson | St. Thomas | Sr. | Eden Prairie, Minn. | Holy Family | -- |
| F | Jack Stang | Saint Mary's | Sr. | Mendota Heights, Minn. | -- |
| F | Tommy Stang | Saint Mary's | Jr. | Mendota Heights, Minn. | St. Thomas Academy | 2019 |
| F | Kyle Wagner | Saint John's | Sr. | St. Francis, Minn. | 2019 |
| D | Jake Dittel | Saint John's | Jr. | White Bear Lake, Minn. | 2019 |
| D | Phil Fromberger | St. Thomas | Jr. | Verona, Wis. | -- |
| D | Will LeNeave | Gustavus | Jr. | Medina, Minn. | Orono | -- |
| D | Kyle Meeh | Saint Mary's | Sr. | Fenton, Mo. | Lindbergh | 2017 (HM) | 2019 |
| D | John O'Connor | Augsburg | Sr. | Moorhead, Minn. | 2018 (HM) | 2019 |
| D | Tanner Okeson | Concordia | Sr. | Roseau, Minn. | 2018 |
| G | Andrew Lindgren | Saint John's | Sr. | Minneapolis, Minn. | Eagan | 2018 | 2019 |
| G | Jacob Stephan | Concordia | Sr. | Eagle River, Wis. | Northland Pines | 2019 (HM) |
2019-20 MIAC Men's Hockey All-Rookie Team
| Position | Name | Institution | Class | Hometown | High School |
| F | Jackson Bond | Hamline | Fr. | Roseville, Minn. |
| F | Jack Johnson | Saint John's | Fr. | Bemidji, Minn. |
| F | Auggie Moore | Saint John's | Fr. | Edina, Minn. | Benilde-St. Margaret's |
| D | Peter Tabor | Saint John's | Fr. | Edina, Minn. | Holy Family |
| D | Trevor Wilhelm | Saint Mary's | Fr. | St. Louis, Mo. |
| G | Henry Baribeau | St. Thomas | Fr. | Hudson, Wis. |
2019-20 MIAC Men's Hockey Honorable Mention
| Position | Name | Institution | Class | Hometown | High School | Previous Selections |
| F | Jackson Bond | Hamline | Fr. | Roseville, Minn. | -- |
| F | Jacen Bracko | Concordia | So. | Calgary, Alta., Canada | International School Rheintal | -- |
| F | Gavin Holland | Augsburg | So. | Stillwater, Minn. | -- |
| F | Kyle Rimbach | St. Olaf | Sr. | Encinitas, Calif. | -- |
| F | Ryan Stoynich | Saint Mary's | So. | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | -- |
| D | Travis Brown | Saint John's | Jr. | Otsego, Minn. | Rogers | -- |
| D | Roshen Jaswal | St. Olaf | Sr. | Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada | 2018 (HM) | 2019 (HM) |
| D | Patrick O'Connor | Augsburg | So. | Moorhead, Minn. | -- |
| D | Alex Stoley | Concordia | Jr. | Manteca, Calif. | Sierra | 2019 (HM) |
| D | Trevor Wilhelm | Saint Mary's | Fr. | St. Louis, Mo. | -- |
| G | Daniil Gerasimov | Augsburg | Jr. | Moscow, Russia | State School 1944 | -- |
| G | Noah Parker | St. Olaf | Sr. | Northfield, Minn. | 2019 (HM) |
2019-20 MIAC Men's Hockey All-Sportsmanship Team
| Position | Name | Institution | Class | Hometown | High School |
| F | Ben Henderson | Augsburg | So. | North Branch, Minn. | Totino-Grace |
| D | Tyler Mros | Bethel | Sr. | Big Lake, Minn. | Monticello |
| F | Alex Mimmack | Concordia | Sr. | Brainerd, Minn. |
| D | Axel Hallin | Gustavus | Sr. | Hovas, Sweden | National Sports Academy |
| F | Brady Crabtree | Hamline | Sr. | St. Louis, Mo. |
| D | Adam Orn | Saint John's | Sr. | Ramsey, Minn. | Anoka |
| F | Robert Roslund | Saint Mary's | Jr. | Vanersborg, Sweden |
| D | Filip Dusek | St. Olaf | Fy. | Prague, Czech Republic |
| F | Broydon Styfko | St. Thomas | Sr. | Prescott, Ontario, Canada | Shattuck-St. Mary's |