NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team closes out the regular season with a playoff berth on the line Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Olaf for a 4 p.m. showdown with the Oles.





The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-6-3 MIAC / 12-10-3 Overall)
vs. St. Olaf Oles (10-5-2 MIAC / 11-11-2 Overall)

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Last Night:
After two scoreless periods, St. Olaf outscored the Cardinals 2-1 in the third period in beating SMU 2-1 Friday evening at the SMU Ice Arena

Earlier This Year:
January 15, 2011: Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) scored the Cardinals' lone goal, as St. Olaf raced out to a 3-0 lead and cruised to a 5-1 nonconference victory over SMU at the SMU Ice Arena.

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.

Playoff Picture:
Despite Friday's loss, the Cardinals enter Saturday's regular-season finale at St. Olaf in the driver's seat for an MIAC playoff berth. SMU and Concordia are currently tied for the fifth and final playoff spot, but thanks to their win and tie vs. the Cobbers earlier this season, the Cardinals hold the tiebreaker if the two remain tied. An SMU win or a Concordia loss against St. Thomas gives the Cardinals their second straight MIAC post-season berth.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
Friday's 2-1 loss to St. Olaf dropped the Cardinals to 1-5-3 in their nine conference games on Friday night's this season. … Dy-anna Stewart (Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored the Cardinals' lone goal vs. the Oles on Friday, while Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) and Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Island, Mich.) picked up the assists. … Olson enters Saturday's game at St. Olaf with team highs in assists (14) and points (23), whie Coolsaet  — who has now assisted on SMU's last three goals — boasts a team-best 10 goals. … SMU has four players — Olson (23), Coolsaet (17), Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis. / 15) and Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn. / 11) — with 10 or more points. … Stenseth leads the team with three game-winning goals — including the OT game-winner in SMU's 2-1 victory over St. Thomas on Jan. 29. … Twenty-three of the Cardinals' 54 goals this season have come from freshmen. … Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) kicked out 21 St. Olaf shots in Friday's 2-1 loss. … Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) enters Saturday's game at St. Olaf with a 1.83 goals-against-average and a .946 save percentage, while Collier owns a 2.04 GAA, a .922 save percentage and a team-leading seven wins. … SMU has scored first in 12 of its 24 games, going 11-0-1. SMU is 0-10-2 when its opponent scores first. … 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 enter Saturday's rematch against Saint Mary's riding a six-game winning streak. St. Olaf is also 9-2-1 in its last 12 games. … St. Olaf has outscored its opponents 26-8 during its current five-game winning streak. … St. Olaf has now held its last three opponents to one goal each. … Nicole Stumpf and Taylor Orr accounted for St. Olaf's two goals vs. SMU Friday. It was Stumpf's team-leading 10th goal, while Orr netted her third of the season. … Katie Iraci leads the team with 16 points. … Kirsten Latta and Alison Umland are the team's assist leaders with 11 each. … St. Olaf boasts eight players — Iraci (16), Nicole Stumpf (15), Latta (14), Meghan Stumpf (13), Umland (13), Marogt Fleming (12), Alex Mayer (12) and Taylor Orr (12) — with 10 or more points. … St. Olaf's 66 goals have come from 16 different players, while 18 Oles have recorded at least one point. … Jessica Ptachick — who stopped 19 shots in Friday's win over Saint Mary's — and Erin McNamara have shared the majority of the goaltending duties, with Ptachick owning a 2.52 goals-against-average and a .932 save percentage, while also being in goal for 10 of the team's 11 wins. McNamara, meanwhile, has a 3.55 GAA and an .884 save percentage. … The Oles are 9-4-1 when scoring first and 2-7-1 when their opponent nets the game's first goal | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics