BLAINE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team hits the road for the second game of its two-game MIAC series against Bethel Saturday. Puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Schwan's Super Rink.





The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-4-0 MIAC / 4-12-0 Overall) vs.
Bethel Royals (3-3-3 MIAC / 4-11-3 Overall)

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Last Night:
The Cardinals jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 3-1, but could not hold off the Royals, as Bethel scored three unanswered goals to beat SMU 4-3 Friday evening at the SMU Ice Arena.

A Year Ago:
January 22, 2010: For the third time in their last six games, the Cardinals entered the third period Friday with the lead, clinging to a 4-3 advantage against the Royals. When the final horn sounded, however, the third period had again been SMU's Achilles' heel, as Bethel scored twice in the final 20 minutes — including the game-winner with 2:43 remaining — as the Royals edged the Cardinals 5-4 in a conference game at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn.

January 23, 2010: The Royals erupted for nine goals — scoring four times in the third, three times in the second and twice in the third — en route to a 9-1 conference win over the Cardinals at the SMU Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return hom next Friday, playing host to St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Ice Arena. Bethel, meanwhile, begins its two-game conference series against St. Olaf on the road Friday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
Friday's loss to Bethel marked the second straight game in which SMU led 2-0 and 3-1 — only to lose 4-3. … Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) recorded his first collegiate two-goal game against the Royals Friday night. He is the second Cardinal to score two goals in a game this season — Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) is the other, scoring twice against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 8. … Wentland collected a goal and an asisst vs. Bethel Friday, and now leads the team in all three offensive categories — goals (8), assists (9) and points (17). … Balko is second to Wentland in all three offensive categories with five goals, eight assists and 13 points. … Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) and Andrew Ketterer (Peoria, Ill.) scord their first collegiate goals in last Friday's 2-0 win over St. Olaf, while Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate shutout, stopping all 27 shots in the 2-0 win. … Horstman's shutout was the first by the Cardinals since Ryne Ess and Curtis Nosal combined on a 19-save shutout in SMU's 5-0 win over Augsburg on Jan. 24, 2004. It was also just the second SMU shutout in the last decade. … Horstman enters tonight's game at Bethel with a 4.14 goals-against-average and an .883 save percentage. … The Cardinals' 36 goals this season have come from 16 different players, while 19 players have at least one point. … Last Friday's 2-0 win over the Oles on Friday snapped the Cardinals' season-high seven-game losing streak. … The Cardinals have now scored two goals or more in four straight games, after snapping a string of four straight games in which SMU was held to one goal or less. … With their 4-3 loss at St. Olaf last Saturday, the Cardinals are still searching for their first road win of the season (0-9-0). … Eight of SMU's 12 losses have come against teams that have been nationally ranked. … All four of SMU's wins have come when the Cardinals scored first. SMU is 0-7-0 when its opponent scores first. … SMU netted its only shorthanded goal of the season vs. UW-Stout on Nov. 4. … With their 5-2 and 2-1 wins over Concordia on Nov. 12-13, the Cardinals posted their first conference sweep since beating the Cobbers twice (14-3, 7-2) during the 2007-2008 season. … The Cardinals' 2-0 start to the conference schedule was their first since opening the 2001-2002 MIAC season with back-to-back wins over Hamline (5-2, 5-2) | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics

Bethel Royals News and Notes:
With their 4-3 win over Saint Mary's, the Royals snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) and improved to 1-0-1 in their last two games — the tie a 4-4 decision over No. 11 Hamline last Saturday. … With Friday's win, the Royals improved to 2-6-3 over its last 11 games. Despite just the two wins, the Royals have scored 44 goals during that 11-game span. … The Royals have played three overtime games, and all three have ended in ties — 3-3 and 4-4 vs. Concordia and 4-4 vs. Hamline. … Jack Paul, who scored three of the Royals' seven goals vs. Hamline last weekend, collected a pair of assists vs. the Cardinals Friday night. … With his three goals vs. the Pipers last weekend, Paul enters tonight's game vs. Saint Mary's with a team-leading 16 goals and 26 points. … Jon Crouse picked up assists on three of the Royals' four goals vs. SMU Friday to push his assist total to a team-best 16. … The Royals boast eight players with at least 10 points. … Twenty-three of Bethel's 60 goals have come on the power play. … Goalie Zach Bush has appeared in 14 of the team's 18 games, compiling a 3.64 goals-against-average and an .891 save percentage. … Bethel has been outscored 27-15 in the first period. … The Royals are just 1-4-2 at home this season. … Bethel is 2-2-1 when scoring first, but just 2-9-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics