vs.
Saint Mary's Cardinals   1-6-1 / 2-14-1Overall		Bethel Royals   5-5-0 / 9-9-1 Overall

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Last Action: The Cardinals dropped a pair of conference games to St. Olaf last weekend, falling 6-4 on Friday night in Northfield, Minn., then giving up three goals in the first period and four more in the second in losing the rematch 9-1 Saturday at the SMU Ice Arena. … Bethel, meanwhile, settled for a split against 14th-ranked Hamline last weekend. Karl Bostrom recorded a hat trick in the Royals' 8-7 win over the Pipers on Friday night in Blaine, Minn., but Hamline rebounded, beating Bethel 6-1 in St. Paul, Minn.

A Year Ago: SMU and Bethel split their MIAC two-game series a year ago, with each team winning on their home ice. Bethel jumped out to a 3-1 first-period lead and never looked backing beating the Cardinals 6-2 on Feb. 8 at the SMU Ice Arena. The Cardinals turned the tables a day later, Eric Dahl (St. Cloud, Minn.) scored with three minutes remaining in regulation to break a 3-3 tie and lift the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the league-leading and defending MIAC champion Royals.

Cardinal Notes: Saturday's 9-1 loss to St. Olaf was just the second time in the teams' last nine meetings that the game has been decided by more than two goals — including a streak of six straight that were decided by one goal. … The Cardinals' 9-1 loss to St. Olaf Saturday was SMU's third straight setback and dropped them to 1-8-0 in their last nine games. … SMU's opponents have netted 21 goals during the Cardinals' current three-game slide. … The Cardinals have allowed five or more goals in 12 of their 17 games. …  SMU's single goal vs. St. Olaf on Saturday marked the 11th time this season the Cardinals have been held to two goals or less. … Steve Murphy (Anchorage, Alaska) scored a pair of goals for the Cardinals vs. St. Olaf on Friday … Friday's effort was Murphy's second two-goal game of his SMU career and his third multiple-point outing of the season. … Murphy now leads the team with seven goals and 11 points. He is one of three players with 10 or more points. Mike Glaesmer (Traverse City, Mich.) and Anthony Bohn (Spring Hill, Fla.) are the other two, each boasting 10 points. … Bohn's nine assists are also a team high. … Nick Carlson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) accounted for SMU's lone goal in Saturday's loss to the Oles. … Eleven of Saint Mary's 17 games have been against nationally ranked teams. SMU's first four games were nonconference games against No. 15 St. Scholastica, No. 8 UW-Superior, No. 6 UW-Stevens Point and No. 12 UW-Eau Claire, while conference opponents Gustavus and Hamline were ranked No. 14 and No. 13, respectively. St. Norbert entered its Jan. 10 game vs. SMU as the nation's fourth-ranked team, while UW-Stout was ranked seventh. … SMU has played four overtime games this season. The Cardinals are 2-1-1 in those four games, with wins over Concordia (6-5) and UW-River Falls (2-1), a 7-6 loss to defending MIAC regular-season champion Hamline and a 3-3 tie vs. Concordia. … UW-River Falls' single goal in SMU's 2-1 OT win on Jan. 17 was the fewest allowed by the Cardinals since a 3-1 win over St. Scholastica on Jan. 26, 2007. … The Cardinals have been outscored 36-7 in the first period, 36-14 in the second period and 27-13 in the third. … St. Olaf scored first in Friday's 6-4 Ole win, marking the 15th time in 16 games that the Cardinals' opponent has scored first. A first-period tally by Andy Roberts (Rochester, Minn.) vs. Lake Forest on Jan. 9 is the only time this season the Cardinals have scored first. … UW-Stout's 12 goals in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 6 were the most allowed by SMU since giving up 12 in a 12-4 loss to St. Thomas on Jan. 25, 1990.

Royal Notes: Saturday's 6-1 loss to Hamline snapped the Royals' two-game winning streak. … Bethel's eight-goal outburst vs. Hamline in last Friday's 8-7 win over Hamline was a season high. It was also the first time this season the Royals have scored more than four goals all season. On the flip side, the Pipers' seven goals in that same game were also the most allowed by Bethel this season. … The Bethel football team recorded just one more point than its hockey counterpart in beating Hamline 9-7 this fall. … Fourteen of Bethel's 19 games have been decided by two goals or less. … Fueled by his first hat trick of the season Friday evening, Kent Bostrom shares the team lead in goals (8) with Brad Peterson, while also leading the team in assists (14) and points (22). … Bostrom is one of four Bethel players with 10 or more points. Chris Fiala (6 G, 13 A, 19 Pts), Peterson (8-10-18), and Eric Adams (7-4-11) are the other three. … Twelve of Fiala's 19 points have come on the power play, where he has scored three goals and added nine assists. … Aaron Damjanovich has been the workhorse in goal for the Royals, appearing in all 19 games, while posting a 3.31 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage. …  Bethel has been outscored 28-18 in the third period.