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2003-2004 Record: 7-6-1 MIAC / 12-9-2 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Fri., Feb. 13: Saint Mary's 4, Concordia 3 Sat., Feb. 14: Concordia 3, Saint Mary's 2 |
| Upcoming Games: Fri., Feb. 20: Hamline, 7:05 p.m. Sat., Feb. 21: at Hamline, 7:05 p.m. |
| This and That: With the split vs. Concordia, SMU moved to 7-6-1 in the MIAC. The Cardinals' 15 points are one behind Gustavus, two in front of fifth-place Augsburg and four in front of sixth-place St. Olaf. SMU and Augsburg have two MIAC games remaining (SMU vs. Hamline; Augsburg vs. league-leading St. John's), while Gustavus and St. Olaf each have two MIAC series left. The top five teams qualifier for the MIAC's post-season tournament. … A sweep of Hamline would give SMU its first post-season tournament berth since the 1996-97 season, when the Cardinals were eliminated by St. John's. … A split vs. the Pipers, and the Cardinals would need St. Olaf to lose at least one of its last four games to qualify for the post-season. … The Cardinals had six different players score their six goals vs. Concordia. … Jason Fillipp (Fox River Grove, Ill.) led the team with three points vs. the Cobbers. … Fillipp leads the team in goals (14), while Lenny Hofmann (Sartell, Minn.) is the team-leader in assists (18) and points (20). Both are career highs for Hofmann. … Nine of SMU's 12 wins have come on the Cardinals' home ice. … SMU has outscored its opponents 31-22 in the third period. |
WINONA, Minn. — Coming from behind has been something the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team has gotten pretty good at.
Hanging on to leads, on the other hand, hasn't.
The Cardinals let a 2-1 second-period lead slip through their fingers last Saturday afternoon, as Concordia scored twice in the last 11 minutes of the second period en route to a 3-2 win over SMU, keeping the Cobbers' slim MIAC post-season playoffs hopes alive, while keeping the Cardinals' hopes hanging by a thread.
Albeit a very thick thread.
The Cardinals are currently in fourth place in the MIAC with a 7-6-1 MIAC record and 15 points. They are one point behind third-place Gustavus, two in front of fifth-place Augsburg and four in front of sixth-place St. Olaf.
However … .
SMU has just two conference games left — this weekend against Hamline (winless in 12 MIAC games this season) — while Gustavus, sixth-place St. Olaf and seventh-place Concordia all have four MIAC games remaining. One win against the Pipers, and SMU is assured its first MIAC post-season tournament berth since the 1996-97 season. A sweep vs. Hamline, and the Cardinals lock up the fourth-place slot — and home ice for the Tuesday, March 4, game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
"We need to just go out and take care of our business," said SMU coach Don Olson. "Getting three out of four points (against Gustavus two weekends ago) and getting a split and two points (against Concordia) has put us in pretty good shape.
"We control our own destiny, but we aren't going to get too caught up in all that — we can't worry about anything but going out and playing to the best of our ability.
"I thought we played fairly well this weekend," continued Olson. "We battled and worked hard, it was one of those series that could have gone either way."
On Friday, it went the Cardinals way — as Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.), Jason Fillipp (Fox River Grove, Ill.) and Lenny Hofmann (Sartell, Minn.) scored in the first 12 minutes of the third period to give SMU the come-from-behind win.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, on Saturday, it went the Cobbers' way — as Concordia got goals from Brice Berggren and Matt Hanson two minutes apart midway through the second period to seal the win.
"At the beginning of the year I said that the conference was going to be so balanced from top to bottom, and with two weeks to go, seven teams still have a shot (at making the playoffs)," said Olson. "We've put ourselves in position to be one of those teams — now we need to go out and put our best game on the ice (against Hamline). We do that, and we'll be just fine."
Fine — and in the playoffs.