NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, traveling to St. Olaf for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Oles.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2-0 MIAC | 1-7-0 Overall)
at St. Olaf Oles (2-1-1 MIAC | 6-2-2 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Video Preview

Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since Nov. 22-23, when they split a two-game nonconference series against nationally ranked Milwaukee School of Engineering. SMU won the first game, getting a Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) goal three minutes into overtime in a 2-1 victory at the SMU Ice Arena. The eighth-ranked Raiders turned the tables a day later, winning 6-0. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, swept a nonconference series at Lake Forest, beating the Foresters 5-0 on Saturday, then adding a 4-1 victory a day later.

SMU vs. St. Olaf — Their Last Meeting:
October 30, 2011: Just a day after giving up the game-winning goal in the final period of a 3-2 loss to St. Thomas, the Cardinals surrendered three unanswered goals in the game's final 20 minutes in falling to St. Olaf 3-2 in the MIAC Hockey Showcase at Fogerty Arena.

SMU vs. St. Olaf — A Year Ago:
November 16, 2010: SMU got second-period goals from Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.), Danny Wood (Wilmington , Ohio) and Ben Kitzmiller (Lambertville, Mich.) in handing St. Olaf a 3-1 nonconference setback at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 14, 2011: Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) stopped 27 shots for his first collegiate shutout, and Nick Nagle (Andover, Minn.) and Andrew Ketterer (Peoria, Ill.) recorded their first collegiate goals, as SMU dropped the Oles 2-0 at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 15, 2011: St. Olaf erupted for four unanswered goals in the game's final 26 minutes, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to hand the Cardinals a 4-3 MIAC setback in Northfield, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals and Oles complete their two-game conference series on Saturday, as SMU hosts St. Olaf in a 7:30 p.m. contest at the SMU Ice Arena.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
The Cardinals' 2-1 win over MSOE on Nov. 22 was their second straight overtime game of the season. SMU had dropped a 4-3 OT decision to Hamline on Nov. 12. … The win over MSOE also snapped the Cardinals' season-opening six-game losing streak. … Five of the Cardinals' eight games this season have been decided by one goal. … SMU's 2-1 victory over MSOE was the Cardinals' first overtime win since beating UW-River Falls 2-1 on Jan. 17, 2009. … SMU's 6-0 setback against MSOE on Nov. 23 was just the second time in their last 33 games that the Cardinals have failed to score at least one goal. The last time SMU was shut out also came at the hands of MSOE — a 2-0 setback on Dec. 3, 2010, in Milwaukee, Wis. … The Cardinals' last five games have been against teams that have been nationally ranked this season. … Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) and Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) scored the Cardinals' goals against MSOE on Nov. 22. It was the third goal of the season for both. … Balko and Marx share the team led with three goals each, while Nick Nagel owns a team-best four assists. … Balko and Nagel also share the team's points lead at five. … SMU's 18 goals have come from 13 different players. … SMU has gotten at least one point from 19 of the 24 players who have played this season. … Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) enters Friday's game against St. Olaf with a team-best 3.44 goals-against-average and an .896 save percentage. … Seven of the Cardinals' 18 goals have come in the first period. … The Cardinals have scored first in four of eight seven games.

St. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the final home game of 2011 for the Oles, who play at Saint Mary's on Saturday, before kicking off 2012 with home games against St. Norbert and UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 6-7. … With their sweep of Lake Forest, the Oles are now 4-1-1 in their last six games. … St. Olaf opened the season with a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1), snapped by a 9-1 setback at St. Scholastica on Nov. 5. … Saturday's 5-0 win over the Foresters was St. Olaf's second shutout win of the season, having also blanked defending conference champion Hamline 4-0 on Nov. 18. Ben Leis stopped 26 shots in the Oles' win over Hamline, while Steve Papciak kicked out 21 shots in Saturday's win over Lake Forest. … St. Olaf has played three overtime games this season, beating UW-Superior 6-5, while tying St. Thomas (1-1) and Concordia (2-2). … Jeff Harris enters Friday's game against Saint Mary's with a team-best six goals in 10 games, while Derek Grogan, Charlie Raskob and Peter Rohn have all tallied four goals. The trio also all share the team lead in assists (7) and points (11). … All four of Grogan's goals have been power-play tallies. … The Oles are averaging one power-play goal a game. … St. Olaf's 34 goals this season have come from 13 different players, while 18 Oles have recorded at least one point. … The Oles have used three different goalies this season, with Leis appearing in a team-leading six games, compiling a team-best 2.10 goals-against-average and a .932 save percentage. … The Oles have outscored their opponents 15-6 in the third period. … St. Olaf owns a 4-1-1 record when scoring first, while going 2-1-1 when their opponent nets the game's first goal.