WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, coming off a pair of 3-1 losses at the Codfish Bowl in Boston, Mass., returns home to face St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. game at the SMU Ice Arena.


The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-0-3 MIAC / 6-3-3 Overall)
St. Olaf Oles (2-3-1 MIAC / 2-9-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since Jan. 2-3, when they dropped back to back 3-1 decisions to Trinity (Conn.) and Bowdoin as part of the UMass-Boston Codfish Bowl in Boston, Mass. St. Olaf, meanwhile, has not played since Dec. 10, when they fell to St. Thomas 4-0 in St. Paul, Minn.

A Year Ago:
February 26, 2010: Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.) scored SMU's lone goal and Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) finished with 27 saves, as the Cardinals battled St. Olaf to a 1-1 tie at the SMU Ice Arena.

February 27, 2010: The Cardinlas scored just one goal against St. Olaf for the second straight day, but Erin Stenseth's (Eau Claire, Wis.) second-period tally was all they would need, as SMU beat St. Olaf 1-0 — and, more importantly, locked up the No. 4 seed in the MIAC playoffs and a home date against, who else? St. Olaf.

March 2, 2010: St. Olaf scored once in the first period and twice more in the second and held on for a 3-1 MIAC playoff victory over the Cardinals at the SMU Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return to conference action next weekend, traveling to Blaine, Minn., for a Jan. 21 game against Bethel, then return to the SMU Ice Arena the following afternoon for a 4 p.m. contest against the Royals. St. Olaf, meanwhile, squares off against St. Catherine next weekend, traveling to Ridder Arena for a 7 p.m. battle with the Wildcats on Jan. 21, before hosting St. Kate's in a 2 p.m. game in Northfield, Minn., on Jan. 22.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
The Cardinals' 3-1 loss to Trinity in the opening game of the UMass-Boston Codfish Bowl on Jan. 2 snapped their six-game unbeaten streak. … Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) scored SMU's lone goal in their 3-1 loss to Bowdoin on Jan. 3 and was named to the Codfish Bowl All-Tournament Team. … Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) accounted for SMU's other goal during the two-day tournament. … Olson enters today's game against St. Olaf as the team's leader in assists (9) and points (11). A year ago, Olson boasted a team- and career-high 12 goals. … Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Island, Mich.) and Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) share the team lead with six goals each. … Coolsaet recorded her first collegiate hat trick on Nov. 13 — scoring all three goals in the third period of SMU's 5-2 win over Concordia. … Five of Coolsaet's six goals have come in two games. The freshman forward recorded her first collegiate multiple-goal game with two goals in SMU's season-opening 5-0 win over Marian on Oct. 29. … Eighteen of the Cardinals' 33 goals this season have come from freshmen. … Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) and Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) shared the goaltending duties at the Codfish Bowl, with Collier stopping a season-high 37 shots against Trinity, while Gustafson posted a 27-save effort against Bowdoin. … Collier has compiled a 1.52 goals-against-average and a .939 save percentage in nine starts, while Gustafson boasts a 2.03 GAA and a .949 save percentage. … SMU's 2-2 tie vs. St. Catherine on Dec. 3 marked the third straight Friday that SMU has settled for a tie — the Cardinals also tied Concordia 3-3 on Nov. 12 and Hamline 1-1 on Nov. 19. … The Cardinals' 4-0 win over St. Catherine on Dec. 4, meanwhile, was their third straight Saturday win — SMU also beat Concordia 5-2 on Nov. 13 and Hamline 2-1 on Nov. 20. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 10-3 in the second period and 15-10 in the third. … SMU has scored first in eight of its 12 games, going 6-0-2. … The Cardinals opened the season with three straight wins. SMU's 3-0-0 start was its first since going 4-0-0 to open the 1999-2000 season — the program's second year of existence | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics

St. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
The Oles come into today's game against Saint Mary's having not played in 35 days — and looking for their first win since a 5-0 victory over Concordia on Nov. 20. They are 0-3-1 in their four games since then. … St. Olaf has been held to one goal or less in five of their nine losses. … St. Olaf's two wins this season both came against Concordia. The Oles swept the Cobbers 3-2 and 5-0. … St. Olaf enters today's game looking for its first road win (0-5-1). … Margot Fleming leads the team in goals with five, and shares the team lead in points (6) with Alison Umland and Kristen Latta. … Latta also leads the team with five assists. … Eleven different players have scored for the Oles this season, while 13 players have notched at least one point. … Jessica Ptachick and Erin McNamara have shared the goaltending duties, with Ptachick recording a 3.17 goals-against-average and a .934 save percentage in six games, while McNamara owns a 4.11 GAA and an .870 save percentage, also in six games. … St. Olaf has scored first in six of their 12 games, going 2-4-0. On the flip side, the Oles are winless (0-5-1) when their opponent scores first | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics