(Ann Arbor, MI) - The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) tournament continues on Thursday afternoon when the Concordia Cardinals take the field against the Michigan-Dearborn Wolverines. The Cardinals automatically advanced to the Semifinal round of the tournament after claiming their second straight WHAC regular season title, going 8-0. 

GAME INFORMATION

#1 Concordia vs. #5 Michigan-Dearborn

Ferry Field at Cardinal Stadium | Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, April 25th, 4:00 PM

Live Stream | Live Stats | Tickets

ABOUT THE WOLVERINES

The Wolverines finished out the regular season with a 5-9 overall record and a 3-5 WHAC record. UMD advanced to the Semifinal after taking Madonna 15-10 on Tuesday. The Wolverines are headed by Jason Watts who is in his 10th year, since the program became a varsity sport, with a record of 41-75. 

The offense is led by Nolan Kelley who leads the team in goals and points with 41 and 52 respectively. Brodie Mahmud leads the team in assists with 14 on the season. Chance Mahon is the main faceoff specialist for the Wolverines and has won 141 of his 316 faceoffs and leads the team picking up 75 ground balls on the year as well. 

UMD has a pair of goalies splitting time in net as Jack Meyers leads the team with 113 saves and Owen Reed leads the duo with a 52.9% save percentage. 

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

The Cardinals took home their second-straight WHAC Regular Season title after an 8-0 conference record and an 11-3 overall record. Head Coach Ty McGuire is in sixth season with a 44-30 record. 

The offensive attack for CUAA sees four players with at least 30 goals, as Cooper Regimbal (34), Andrew Simmons (31), Hunter McCarty (30), and Ivan Progar (30) lead the pack. McCarty has also recorded a team-high 19 assists with Travis Wright tallying 16. Sam Saje is the Cardinal's leading faceoff specialist winning 197 of his 270 attempts and has picked up a team-high 148 ground balls. 

Sam Bowling has been the man in net for 13 of the Cardinal's 14 games, playing 717:19 minutes. Bowling has accumulated 126 saves and leads the WHAC with an 8.03 goals-against average. He also has a save percentage of 56.8%.

PREVIOUS MATCHUP

The Cardinals hold the 4-3 advantage in the all-time series, with the Cardinals winning the previous two meetings. The last clash between the two sides was less than two weeks ago when the Cards traveled to Dearborn and took home the 16-3 win, clinching their regular season championship. 

Concordia rattled off nine consecutive goals in the first quarter, highlighted by a hat trick from Andrew Simmons. UM-Dearborn opened up the scoring in the second quarter, but the Cardinals scored six straight in response, with Cooper Regimbal and Ivan Progar securing hat tricks of their own. The Wolverines snuck in two goals late, but the Cardinals finished the game with a comfortable 16-3 victory. Sam Saje was dominant, winning 14 of his 17 faceoffs, while Same Bowling stopped 10 of the 13 shots he faced. Zachary Dixon had a team leading 4 caused turnovers. 

WHAC TOURNAMENT

April 23, 25, 27

Higher seeds hosts

Top 6 teams in the final season standings qualify

First Round - Tuesday, April 23

#3 Aquinas def. #6 Siena Heights 10-9

#5 UM-Dearborn def. #4 Madonna 15-10

Semifinals - Thursday, April 25

#1 Concordia vs. #5 UM-Dearborn - 4 p.m.

#2 Indiana Tech vs. #3 Aquinas - 5 p.m.

Championship - Saturday, April 27

Automatic berth to NAIA Nationals

1. Tournament winner

TEAM STATS