SEASON PREVIEW: Men's Hockey prepares for 2022-23 campaign

(Ann Arbor, MI) – The Concordia men's hockey team is preparing to begin their season this upcoming Friday.  The Cardinals went 13-16 last year, picking up their first ever victories over several ranked WHAC rivals, including the first playoff win in program history.  Head coach David Wohlberg enters his 4th season at the helm for the Cardinals, looking to build off a 2021-22 season full of record breaking accomplishments. 

 

2021-22 Season Review

Concordia finished with a 13-16 overall record last season, going 6-11 in WHAC play. CUAA started the year off 5-1, including a program record five game win streak, before running into a string of losses in late fall. After some more streaky play, the Cardinals won 3 of their last 4 games heading into the playoffs, including a series sweep over 17th-ranked UM-Dearborn, earning the #5 seed in the WHAC and facing off with LTU in the opening round of the conference tournament. In a back and forth game that included the CUAA falling behind by a pair of goals on two separate occasions, the Cardinals were eventually able to fight their way back and secure an overtime victory to move into the semifinals. Concordia would face off with Indiana Tech in the semis, falling to the Warriors, 3-0, to conclude their season. 

 

2022-23 Schedule Outlook

Concordia starts the season with a home-and-home series against Oakland University on September 30th and October 1st. The Cardinals will jump right into conference play afterwards, opening the first of six straight weekends of WHAC series with a pair of games against #15 UM-Dearborn on October 7th and 8th. CUAA follows that up with another ranked test the following weekend, this time against the 22nd-ranked Lawrence Tech Blue Devils. The Cards will finish the month with a pair of two-game series against Cleary and Rochester. 

November invites the challenge of more prominent WHAC foes for the Cardinals, playing series against #8 Indiana Tech and #17 Aquinas in back-to-back weekends to open the month. The team will then head to Chicago right before Thanksgiving break for a pair of non-conference matchups against the Roosevelt Lakers. 

Concordia wraps up the fall semester with five more non-conference contests in December, opening the month by hosting games against John Carroll (December 2nd) and Grand Valley (December 3rd), before heading out to Grand Rapids for a rematch with the GVSU Lakers (December 4th). CUAA will then conclude the semester with a home-and-home series against Purdue Northwest on December 9th and 10th. 

The Cardinals open up 2023 with the same conference schedule as in the fall, playing two-game, home-and-home series with UM-Dearborn, LTU, Cleary, Rochester, Indiana Tech, and Aquinas all between January 6th and February 11th. The Cards will then take a road trip out to Pittsburgh for a weekend series against Duquesne to conclude regular season play.

All teams will qualify for the WHAC conference playoffs, which will take place from February 24th through the 26th in Fort Wayne, IN (hosted by Indiana Tech).  The winner will receive an automatic berth to the ACHA Division 1 National Championship Tournament in Marlboro, MA from March 16th to the 21st.

 

Concordia Personnel

 

 

Sophomore goaltender Anthony Seykora returns after winning WHAC Newcomer of the Year last season, becoming the second consecutive Cardinal to be named to the honor.  Senior Hunter Kepple returns to lead the CUAA attack after joining Seykora on the WHAC All-Conference 2nd Team last season and leading the team in goals. 2021 WHAC Newcomer of the Year Quinn Bieniek comes off of a 10 point season last year, while his brother Tyler Bieniek enters the new year coming off a season where he finished 4th on the team in points (17) and tied for 3rd in goals (9). 

On the backend, junior (and alternate captain) Brandon Kucera and sophomore Derek Hebner bring experience to a generally young defensive core this season for the Cardinals. Hebner leads all returning defensemen in career points and goals. His brother, Kyle Hebner, returns after picking up 15 points last year for his second consecutive double-digit points season. 

Alternate captain Brandon Troyer comes back off a 16-point season where he was named WHAC Offensive Player of the Week in October of 2021. Sophomore Brayden Tayles leads the leadership core after being named Captain in the offseason, and looks to build on his 3 goals and 6 assists from last year. 

Sophomore Carson Ediger is also back after a promising freshman year last season. Senior Zachary Janis also returns after coming in after the winter break last season and putting out two impressive starts in his short time at CUAA, he looks to grow in his contribution for the Cards this season. 

Head coach David Wohlberg has added 21 newcomers to the entire Cardinal roster this year. 

 

2021-22 Team Stats

 

 

 

Connect with the Cardinals

To stay up to date with the most recent information and news throughout the season, follow the Concordia Men's Hockey team on their social media platforms. The Cardinals are on Twitter (@CUAA_MHockey) and Instagram (@cuaa_mhockey).