MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team hits the road Saturday, traveling to the St. Thomas Ice Arena for the second game of their two-game MIAC series against St. Thomas. Puck drops at 7 p.m.






The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-4-2 MIAC / 4-12-2 Overall)
vs. St. Thomas Tommies (5-5-1 MIAC / 10-9-1 Overall)

Last Night:
The Cardinals got a goal from Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, as SMU rallied for a 3-3 tie against St. Thomas Friday at the SMU Ice Arena.

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 remain on the road next Friday, heading to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7:05 p.m. game at Augsburg. The same two teams will then return to the SMU Ice Arena for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch. St. Thomas, meanwhile, squares off against St. Olaf next weekend, hosting the Oles on Friday at 7 p.m., then traveling to Northfield, Minn., for Saturday's second game at 7:30 p.m.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
With Friday's tie against St. Thomas, the Cardinals snapped an 18-game losing streak against the Tommies. SMU's last win vs. UST was a 6-2 victory on Jan. 18, 2002. … Friday's game against St. Thomas marked the second straight overtime tie — SMU and Bethel battled to a 4-4 deadlock in Arden Hills, Minn., last Saturday. … Friday's game also marked the second straight game in wihch SMU scored in the game's final minute to earn the tie. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored the game-tying goal in each of SMU's last two ties — scoring with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation against Bethel last Saturday, then netting the game-tying goal with 12 seconds left vs. St. Thomas on Friday. … The goal was Wentland's team-leading 10th of the season. … Wentland — who has now recorded a point in 13 of the team's 18 games — also leads the team in points with 19 and shares the team lead in assists (9) with Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.). … Balko scored his seventh goal of the season and Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) added his third of the season to account for SMU's other two goals vs. St. Thomas Friday. … Balko, Wentland and Ryan Griffiths (Arvada, Colo.) have all recorded two-goal games this season. … Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 36 saves against the Tommies on Friday and enters Saturday's rematch with a 4.00 goals-against-average and an .885 save percentage. … SMU's 2-0 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 14 — in which Horstman 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. … The Cardinals' 43 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 four games, 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 vs. SMU in the midst of a four-game winless streak (0-3-1). … 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. … UST's 6-0 loss at Hamline on Jan. 21 snapped a streak of 22 straight conference games in which the Tommies had not been shut out. … Riley Horgan, Tommy Westmark and Brandon Bahnemann scored UST's three goals vs. SMU on Friday. … Bahnemann's goal was his first of the season. … 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 17 assists — including one vs. SMU on Friday — 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 2.58 goals-against-average and a .905 save percentage. … Sadjadi has recorded one shutout — a 24-save effort against Augsburg on Nov. 13 — while Simcoe, who finished with 18 saves in Friday's tie vs. Saint Mary's, 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 now played three overtime games, beating Gustavus 2-1 on Dec. 4, falling to MSOE 5-4 on Dec. 11 and tying Saint Mary's 3-3. … 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