MENOMONIE, Wis. – The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team stays on the road for two more games this weekend, beginning Friday night, when the Cardinals head to UW-Stout for a 7:30 p.m. nonconference contest against the nationally ranked Blue Devils.
The Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2-0 Overall)
UW-Stout Blue Devils (0-2-0 Overall)
GameDay On The Web: Live Stats /
Live Video
Last Action: The Cardinals came up empty at the inaugural Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Showcase at the Bloomington (Minn.) Ice Gardens, falling to St. Thomas
4-2 and Saint John's
4-0. UW-Stout, meanwhile, also dropped its first two games of the season last weekend, getting swept by St. Norbert
2-0 and
4-1 at home.
A Year Ago: The Cardinals and Blue Devils met twice last season, with UW-Stout coming away with a pair of wins.
January 13, 2009: The Blue Devils erupted for five goals in each of the first two periods en route to a
12-2 victory over the Cardinals at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 19, 2009: UW-Stout completed the nonconference sweep, posting a
6-1 victory in Menomonie, Wis., as the Blue Devils scored the game's first five goals, before Tommy Healy (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) got the Cardinals on the board in the third period.
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Jimmy Becker (Wildomar, Calif.) and Ben Kitzmiller (Lambertville, Mich.) accounted for the Cardinals' two goals in their 4-2 loss to St. Thomas last Friday. … Both Becker and Kitzmiller scored once in their first seasons as a Cardinal a year ago. … Anthony Bohn (Spring Hill, Fla.), who had nine assists in 11 games in 2008-09, picked up his first assist of the season on Kitzmiller's goal, while Vincent Unklesby (Maplewood, Minn.) also notched his first assist of the year on Kitzmiller's goal. … Greg Moore (Woodbury, Minn.) finished with 27 saves vs. St. Thomas Friday, while Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) – making his first collegiate start in goal – stopped 26 Saint John's shots on Saturday. … Four of the eight goals allowed by Saint Mary's over the weekend came on the power play. … SMU's opponents scored seven of their eight goals in the first two periods. … The Cardinals' games vs. UW-Stout (Friday) and St. Olaf (Saturday) are the third and fourth of seven straight road games to open the season for SMU. … Seven of SMU's nine nonconference games a year ago were against teams in the Top 15 — No. 4 St. Norbert, No. 6 UW-Stevens Point, No. 7 UW-Stout (twice), No. 8 UW-Superior, No. 12 UW-Eau Claire and No. 15 St. Scholastica. Conference foes Gustavus, Hamline and St. Olaf were also in the USCHO.com Top 15 when the Cardinals faced them.
UW-Stout Blue Devil Notes: Like the Cardinals, the Blue Devils enter today's game have lost their first two – one by shut out and the other allowing four goals. … UW-Stout, fresh off its first-ever NCAA Division III Frozen Four appearance and ranked No. 3 in the season's first USCHO.com Poll, was picked by NCHA coaches to win the NCHA regular-season title this season. … UW-Stout's loss to Gustavus in the national-championship semifinals a year ago snapped a 15-game unbeaten streak dating back to Jan. 13, 2009. During that streak, UW-Stout was 13-0-2 overall and sported a 10-game winning streak. … Derek Hanson, who led the Blue Devils in points last season (17 goals, 28 assists, 43 points), picked up right where he left off Saturday, scoring UW-Stout's lone goal in the 4-1 loss to St. Norbert. … Joel Gaulrapp was right behind Hanson in scoring last season (21-21-42), as was Scott Motz (14-23-37). The trio makes up UW-Stout's first line and scored 50 of the Blue Devils' 125 goals last season. … The Blue Devils also return four players that scored at least 10 points a year ago, along with 11 players that had at least one goal. … UW-Stout's 23 wins a year ago were a school record. … UW-Stout finished the 2008-09 season as the second-ranked team in the USCHO.com Poll. With the exception of the Nov. 17, 2008, USCHO.com Poll, the Blue Devils have been ranked in the top 15 since the Nov. 13, 2006, poll.
