NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team, which completed its nonconference schedule with a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to UW-River Falls on Saturday, returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. contest against St. Olaf.
The Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-3-0 MIAC / 1-11-1 Overall)
St Olaf Oles (0-2-4 MIAC / 6-4-4 Overall)
GameDay On The Web:
Last Action: The Cardinals raced out to a 3-1 lead after the first two periods against UW-River Falls last Saturday, but the Falcons answered with a pair of third-period goals, then got the game-winner two minutes into overtime to beat SMU 4-3 at the SMU Ice Arena. St. Olaf, meanwhile, also came out on the short end of an overtime decision last Saturday, falling to Augsburg 4-3 in a nonconference game in Buffalo, Minn.
Last Meeting — November 7, 2009: The Oles scored two goals in the game's opening minute – and three in the opening 10 minutes – and then held off a furious SMU rally to beat the Cardinals 5-2 Saturday evening at the Northfield Ice Arena.
A Year Ago — January 23-24, 2009: St. Olaf swept the teams' conference series a year ago. The Oles jumped out to a 3-1 first-period lead, and the Cardinals could never catch up, falling 6-4 in Northfield, Minn. The Oles' offense kicked into high gear in the teams' rematch at the SMU Ice Arena, erupting for three goals in the first period and four more in the second en route to a 9-1 victory.
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Saturday's game vs. UW-River Falls was the second overtime game of the season for SMU, which also tied Nichols 4-4 in overtime on Jan. 2. The Cardinals were 2-0-1 in OT games a year ago. … Blake Zemaitis (Mount Prospect, Ill.) scored his first collegiate goal, while Vincent Unklesbay (Maplewood, Minn.) and Trevor Tolibas (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each netted their second of the season, to account for the Cardinals' three goals vs. UW-River Falls last Saturday. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored for the third straight game and Jeff Miller (Portage, Mich.) netted his first of the season to account for the other in SMU's 4-2 loss to UW-Eau Claire last Friday. … With his goal last Friday, Wentland has now recorded three goals and two assists in SMU's last four games. … Anthony Bohn (Spring Hill, Fla.) enters tonight's matchup with St. Olaf leading the team in all three offensive categories with four goals, eight assists and 12 points. … SMU's 26 goals have come from 14 different players, while 18 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) made his second collegiate start vs. UW-River Falls Saturday, stopping 28 Falcon shots. … Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.), who finished with 37 saves vs. UW-Eau Claire on Friday, enters tonight's game with a team-leading 3.97 goals-against-average and an .890 save percentage. … Horstman is currently fourth in the MIAC in goals-against-average (2.02 in four conference games). … SMU's last four games have all been decided by two goals or less — with both two-goal losses including an empty net goal. … The Cardinals have surrendered 13 goals in the opening two minutes of a period through 12 games. … The Cardinals have been outscored 23-9 in the game's middle period and 19-9 in the third period.
St. Olaf Ole Notes: Nine of the Oles' 14 games have been decided by one goal or less — including five overtime games. St. Olaf is winless in those five OT contests, falling to Augsburg 4-3 last Saturday, while also tying Gustavus, Concordia (twice), and Hamline. … After opening the season 5-2-4, St. Olaf is 1-2-0 in its last three. … Matt Cosgriff, Caleb Harrison and Bryan Giodano accounted for the Oles' three goals in last Saturday's loss to Augsburg. … Britton Smith enters tonight's game vs. SMU with a team-leading 10 goals, while Isak Tranvik boasts team bests in assists (9) and points (17). … The Oles have three players with 10 or more points — Tranvik, Harrison (13) and Smith (12). … Ben Leis and Nick Kraus have shared the goaltending duties, combining to post a 2.71 goals-against-average and a .911 save percentage. … St. Olaf is unbeaten in games in which the Oles have scored first (5-0-4).
