LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, coming off a 7-14-2 season a year ago, kicks off its 2009-2010 season on the road, traveling to Lake Forest for a pair of nonconference games, beginning Saturday at 8 p.m. The two teams will square off again on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Records:

Last Action: Saturday's game is the season opener for both teams.

Last Meeting: November 8, 2008: For the second straight day, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team found themselves deadlocked at 4-4 at the end of regulation. Unlike the previous evening, however — when Sheree Haslemore (Gore, New Zealand scored two minutes into the extra session — this time around, the Cardinals came out on the short end, as Lake Forest's Kim Herring scored 52 seconds into OT to lift the Foresters to the 5-4 win at the SMU Ice Arena.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Dy-anna Stewart (Eden Prairie, Minn.) represented SMU?on the 2008-09 All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team, while Jamie Henneman (Countryside, Ill.),# Katie Cachey# (Orland Park, Ill.) and Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) were honorable-mention selections. …  Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.) scored three goals in SMU's final two games and was one of four SMU players to boast a team-best seven goals a year ago. Katie Cachey (Orland Park, Ill.), Jamie Henneman (Countryside, Ill.) and Ingrid Klockars (Wheaton, Ill.) were the other three. Cachey also finished with a team-best 13 points, with Fiek and Henneman tied for second at 11. Cachey and Alex Braun (Darwin, Minn.) shared the team assist lead with six each. … Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) was a workhorse in goal for the Cardinals, appearing in 18 of the team's 23 games. She boasted a 2.76 goals-against-average, while stopping 515 shots en route to a .915 save percentage. … Lenz stopped all 26 shots she faced in recording her first collegiate shutout on Jan. 31 vs. Bethel. … Lenz stopped 40 or more shots three times, including a career-best 46 vs. Gustavus on Nov. 14. … SMU's 4-0 win vs. Bethel on Jan. 30 was the Cardinals' first shutout victory of the season and first since Brittany Lemke stopped 26 shots in blanking Hamline 2-0 on Jan. 18, 2008. … SMU's 2-2 tie vs. Augsburg on Feb. 14 was the Cardinals' fifth overtime game of the season — and just the second one to end in a tie. … SMU was held to two goals or less in 13 of its 14 losses. … SMU's seven game-winning goals — and its two game-tying goals — came from eight different players. … The Cardinals scored 14 power play goals this season. SMU scored just nine power play goals all season last year.

Lake Forest Forester Notes: The Foresters enter the season having finished fourth in the NCHA post-season tournament each of the last two seasons. … The Foresters did not graduate a player off of last year's 12-15-1 team. … Lake Forest was tabbed to finish fourth in the NCHA Preseason Coaches Poll. … The Forsters return their top three scorers, including All-NCHA First-Teamer Courtney Bean, who finished second on the team in assists (19) and points (23). … Melissa Kravich was the team's top point-getter a year ago, collecting team-highs of 20 assists and 28 points. … Kim Herring scored a team-best 14 goals during her freshman season a year ago. … Alyssa Wintermute put together a 2.77 goals-against-average and a .911 save percentage in 23 games last season. … Lake Forest was 11-3-0 when scoring first, 10-1-0 when leading after two and 10-1-1 when scoring three of more goals during 2008-09. … On the flip side, Lake Forest did not win a game in which it trailed after two periods (0-12-0). … The Foresters did not win or lose more than three games in a row a year ago. … Lake Forest was shut out in six of its 15 losses last season.