WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, coming off a playoff-clinching 1-0 victory over St. Olaf in the team's regular-season finale on Saturday, hits the ice for the opening round of the MIAC playoffs Tuesday, playing host to St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. contest at the SMU Ice Arena.
The MIAC Playoff Schedule:
Tue., March 2: No. 5 St. Olaf at No. 4 Saint Mary's, 7 p.m.
Thurs., March 3: No. 4-5 winner at No. 1 Gustavus, 7 p.m.; No. 3 St. Thomas at No. 2 St. Catherine, TBA
Sat., March 5: Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed
Playoff Experience: The Cardinals are making their ninth MIAC playoff appearance, but first since 2006-07, when SMU dropped a
4-2 decision to Hamline. St. Olaf, meanwhile, is making its second straight, and sixth overall, post-season appearance. The Oles fell to Gustavus
5-0 in the conference semifinals a year ago.
Last Meeting: Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) scored the game's only goal and
Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) stopped all 27 shots as SMU locked up the MIAC fourth seed with a
1-0 victory over St. Olaf Saturday in Northfield, Minn.
Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.) scored in the first minute of the third period, lifting the Cardinals to a
1-1 tie against St. Olaf in last Friday's first game of the two-game series at the SMU Ice Arena
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Saturday's 1-0 regular season-ending win over St. Olaf was SMU's sixth straight game decided by one goal or less (4-3 and 1-0 wins vs. Saint Benedict, 3-2 and 1-0 losses to Gustavus, and a 1-1 tie and 1-0 win vs. St. Olaf). … SMU has now played 18 games decided by one goal or less this season. …
Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) netted the game's only goal last Saturday vs. St. Olaf. It was the sixth goal of the season for the SMU freshman, who now leads the team with three game-winning goals. …
Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) stopped all 27 shots she faced vs. the Oles last Saturday en route to her fifth shutout of the season. …
Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.) scored her ninth goal of the season to account for SMU's lone goal vs. the Oles last Friday. … Fiek and
Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) share the team lead in points (21), while Olson leads the team in goals (12) and Fiek boasts a team-best 12 assists. … Olson scored her team-leading 11th and 12th goals of the season vs. Saint Benedict on Feb. 12. Olson has now scored two or more goals three times this season — including a career-best five-goal outburst against Marian on Jan. 9. … Olson's 12 goals are the most scored by a Cardinal since the 2006-07 season, when Melissa Mondo led the team with 15 goals. … Fiek's team-leading 12 assists, meanwhile, are the most in a season since Laura Mueller led the team with 13 during the 2006-07 season. … SMU boasts four players with 10 or more points — Fiek (21), Olson (21),
Katie Cachey (Orland Park, Ill.) (15) and Stenseth (12). … Collier enters today's playoff game vs. St. Olaf boasting a 1.71 goals-against-average and a .938 save percentage. … Collier, who logged the most minutes among MIAC goalies in conference play this season (18 games, 1070:16 minutes), finished fourth in the conference in goals-against-average (1.74) and save percentage (.937). … The Cardinals have scored first in 15 of their 25 games, going 11-3-1 in those 15 games. On the flip side, SMU's win over Saint Benedict on Jan. 12 was the only time this season SMU has won when its opponent scored first (1-6-1).
St. Olaf Ole Notes: The Oles enter tonight's playoff opener having gone 2-2-2 in the last six games. … Saturday's 1-0 loss to SMU marked the first time this season the Oles have failed to score at least one goal. … Kim McClintick scored her team-leading 12th goal of the season against Saint Mary's in last Friday's first game of the team's two-game regular-season finale. … Kristen Latta boasts a team-best 13 assists, and Nicole Stumpf and Katie Traci share the team lead in points with 20 each. … St. Olaf has three players with 10 or more goals — McClintick (12), Tomford (11) and Stumpf (10) — while Latta (13), Traci (11), Stumpf (10) and Jessica Laurianaitis (10) all have 10 or more assists. … The Oles also have 10 players with at least 10 points. … St. Olaf's 79 goals this season have come from 19 different players, while 22 players have recorded at least one point. … Jessica Ptachick and Erin McNamara have shared the goaltending duties, combining to record a 2.13 goals-against-average and a .929 save percentage. … St. Olaf has scored first in 12 of the team's 25 games, going 9-2-1. When the Oles' opponent scores first, St. Olaf is just 4-8-1.
