WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey concludes its two-game conference series against St. Olaf on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Oles in a 7:30 p.m. game at the SMU Ice Arena.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3-0 MIAC | 1-8-0 Overall)
at St. Olaf Oles (3-1-1 MIAC | 7-2-2 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | Streaming Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program

Last Night:
St. Olaf scored three goals on 24 shots in the first period and never looked back in handing the Cardinals a 5-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn.

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 close out the 2011 portion of their schedule next Saturday, as SMU hosts Marian in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game at the SMU Ice Arena. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, is off until Jan. 6-7, when the Oles host St. Norbert (Jan. 6, 7:30 p.m.) and UW-Stevens Point (Jan. 7, 2 p.m.) at the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
Saturday's game against St. Olaf is the first of four straight home games for the Cardinals, who host Marian next Friday, then entertain UW-Stevens Point and St. Norbert on Jan. 6-7, 2012. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) and A.J. Mueller (New Berlin, Wis.) scored SMU's two goals vs. St. Olaf Friday night, while Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) picked up an assist on both goals. … Jason Horstman finished with a season-high 38 saves vs. the Oles Friday. … With his first-period goal vs. St. Olaf Friday, Wentland moved into a tie for the team lead in goals (3) with Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) and Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa). … Denney, meanwhile, boasts a team-best five assists. … Balko, Wentland, Denney and Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) share the team lead in points with five each. … 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. … Eight of the Cardinals' 20 goals have come in the first period. … 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. … 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. … Five of the Cardinals' last six games have been against teams that have been nationally ranked this season. … The Cardinals have scored first in four of their nine games this season.

St. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
With their win over Saint Mary's Friday, the Oles extended their winning streak to three straight. … The Oles have outscored their opponents 14-3 during their current three-game winning streak. … St. Olaf is now 5-1-1 in its last seven 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. … Last 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 19 shots vs. Saint Mary's Friday en route to his team-leading fourth win of the season. … St. Olaf has played three overtime games this season, beating UW-Superior 6-5, while tying St. Thomas (1-1) and Concordia (2-2). … Kevin Harris scored a pair of goals vs. Saint Mary's Friday, while Derek Grogan, Britton Smith and Austin Wetmore accounted for the other three. … Jeff Harris enters Saturday's game at Saint Mary's with a team-best six goals in 11 games, while Grogan has scored four, and Charlie Raskob and Peter Rohn have both tallied four. … Grogan, Raskob and Rohn share the team lead in assists with seven each, while Grogan is the team-leader in points with 12, one better than Raskob and Rohn. … Four of Grogan's five goals have been power-play tallies. … The Oles are averaging one power-play goal a game. … St. Olaf's 39 goals this season have come from 14 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 seven games, compiling a team-best 2.09 goals-against-average and a .930 save percentage. … The Oles have outscored their opponents 15-6 in the third period. … St. Olaf owns a 5-1-1 record when scoring first, while going 2-1-1 when their opponent nets the game's first goal.