WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team hosts St. Thomas in the first game of the teams' two-game conference series Friday at the SMU Ice Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m.





The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-4-1 MIAC / 4-12-1 Overall)
vs. St. Thomas Tommies (5-5-0 MIAC / 10-9-0 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats / Live Video / Video Preview / GameDay Program

Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up one conference point in its two-game series against Bethel last weekend. SMU led 2-0 and 3-1, but gave up three unanswered goals in falling to the Royals 4-3 on Friday. The Cardinals bounced back in the rematch on Saturday, getting a game-tying goal from Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) with 30 seconds remaining to earn a 4-4 tie. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, came up empty in its MIAC series against Hamline, falling 6-0 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.

A Year Ago:
January 29, 2010: The Tommies scored twice in the game's final 20 minutes — tying the game 1:27 into the frame, then getting the game-winner on the power play with 10 minutes remaining — in handing SMU a 4-3 conference setback at the SMU Ice Arena.

January 30, 2010: The Tommies scored the game's first three goals and never looked back in completing the sweep with a 4-1 victory over SMU at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals head to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., on Saturday, as SMU and St. Thomas conclude their two-game conference series with a 7 p.m. contest.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
After going their first 12 games without a multiple-goal scorer, the Cardinals have had a player score two goals in back-to-back games and three times in the last five games. … Austin Balko (Midland Mich.) recorded his first two-goal game in Friday's 4-3 loss to Bethel, while Ryan Griffiths (Arvada, Colo.) netted his first two collegiate goals in Saturday's 4-4 tie vs. the Royals. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season with 30 seconds remaining Saturday to earn SMU its 4-4 tie vs. Bethel. … Wentland, who has recorded at least one point in 12 of the team's 17 games, also leads the team in assists (9) and points (18). … Balko is second to Wentland in all three offensive categories — goals (6), assists (8) and points (14). … SMU's 2-0 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 14 — in which Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate shutout with 27 saves — was the Cardinals' first shutout 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, who finished with 53 saves against Bethel last weekend, enters this weekend's games vs. St. Thomas with a 4.10 goals-against-average and an .882 save percentage. … The Cardinals' 40 goals this season have come from 17 different players, while 20 players have at least one point. … The Cardinals have now scored three goals or more in each of their last three game, after snapping a string of seven straight games in which SMU was held to two goals or less. … With their 4-4 tie at Bethel last Saturday, the Cardinals are still searching for their first road win of the season (0-9-1). … 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

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
The Tommies enter tonight's game at SMU on the heels of its first three-game losing streak of the season. … Two of UST's three losses during their recent slide have been decided by one goal — with both occurring on the Tommies' home ice. … With their two losses to 11th-ranked Hamline, UST falls to 2-4 against nationally-ranked teams. The Tommies split vs. Gustavus and MSOE and lost two to Hamline. … Friday's 6-0 loss at Hamline snapped a streak of 22 straight conference games in which the Tommies had not been shut out. … Andrew Kappers enters tonight's game vs. SMU with a team-leading 22 points. He is one of seven Tommies with at least 10 points. … Kappers also leads the Tommies with 16 assists, while Rob Johnson's eight goals are a team-best. … Johnson played in his 100th career game last weekend and enters this weekend's games vs. Saint Mary's with 95 career points. … Fifteen different Tommies have scored at least one goal, while 18 UST players have recorded at least one point. … Geoff Sadjadi and Tyron Simcoe have shared the goaltending duties this season, combining for a 2.57 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage. … Sadjadi has recorded one shutout — a 24-save effort against Augsburg on Nov. 13 — while Simcoe stopped all 39 shots vs. UW-River Falls on Jan. 8 and added a 30-save effort vs. Concordia on Jan. 14 for his two shutouts. … UST has played two overtime games, beating Gustavus 2-1 on Dec. 4, and falling to MSOE 5-4 on Dec. 11. … Seven of St. Thomas' nine wins have come when the Tommies score first. UST is just 3-7-0 with its opponent scores first | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics