WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team is back in action Friday, hosting league-leading St. Thomas in the first game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at the SMU Ice Arena.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-4-1 MIAC | 4-10-1 Overall)
vs. No. 12 St. Thomas Tommies (6-1-1 MIAC | 11-3-2 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals are coming off an 0-1-1 showing against Bethel last weekend. Bethel scored three goals in the third period, erasing a 3-2 Saint Mary's lead and handing the Cardinals a 5-3 setback at Bethel Arena in Blaine, Minn., on Friday, then scored two goals in less than a minute late in the third period to earn a 2-2 tie with the Royals on Saturday at the SMU Ice Arena. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, is coming off a conference sweep of Hamline last weekend. UST picked up a 2-1, overtime win over the Pipers on Friday at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., then completed the sweep with a second-straight one-goal win, a 5-4 decision on Saturday on the Pipers' home ice in Vadnais Heights, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
October 29, 2011: For the first 52 minutes, SMU had an answer for everything St. Thomas threw at them. When the Tommies' Travis Baker scored UST's third goal with 7:31 remaining in regulation, however, it went unanswered, as UST held off the Cardinals 3-2 during the MIAC Showcase at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 28, 2011: Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting the Cardinals to a 3-3 conference tie against the Tommies at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 29, 2011: St. Thomas erupted for three, second-period goals in cruising to a 6-2 MIAC win over the Cardinals at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals head to Mendota Heights, Minn., on Saturday, as SMU and St. Thomas conclude their two-game MIAC series at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
Saturday's 2-2 tie against Bethel marked the ninth time in SMU's 15 contests that the game has been decided by one goal or less. … SMU's 2-2 tie vs. Bethel was also the Cardinals' first tie of the season. … The Cardinals have now played three overtime games this season. Along with Saturday's 2-2 tie, the Cardinals dropped a 4-3 decision to Hamline on Nov. 12 and collected a 2-1 win over Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 23. … SMU's 2-1 victory over MSOE was the Cardinals' first overtime win since beating UW-River Falls 2-1 on Jan. 17, 2009. … With Saturday's tie, SMU is now 3-2-1 in its last six games. … All four of SMU's wins — and their lone tie — have come on their home ice. Two of the four wins were by identical 2-1 scores — a 2-1 win over MSOE on Nov. 22 and a 2-1 victory over St. Olaf on Dec. 3. … Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) had a goal in both games vs. Bethel last weekend. … Nagel has now scored in three straight games. During that streak, Nagel has scored one game-winner — against St. Norbert on Jan. 7 — while also netting the game-tying goal against Bethel last Saturday. … Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) and Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) accounted for SMU's other two goals in Friday's 5-3 loss, while Nate Peterson (Cadillac, Mich.) joined Nagel as Saturday's goal scorers. …  McGlasson's goal last Friday was the first of his collegiate career. … Balko's goal vs. Bethel last Friday was his team-leading sixth of the season. … Balko also leads the team in points with 11, while Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) is the team-leader in assists with six, one better than Balko, Nick Gorup (Omaha, Neb.), Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) and Tom Healy (Rolling Meadows, Ill.). … The Cardinals have scored 14 power play goals this season — including both vs. Bethel last Saturday. … All four of Gorup's goals this season have been power-play tallies. … Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) finished with 26 saves against the Royals last Friday, while Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) collected 25 saves in Saturday's rematch. … Scheib enters this weekend series against league-leading St. Thomas owning a team-leading 3.16 goals-against-average and a .916 save percentage. Horstman, meanwhile, boasts a 3.92 GAA and an .892 save percentage. … SMU's 3-2 win over sixth-ranked and defending national champion St. Norbert on Jan. 6 was the Cardinals' second win over a nationally ranked team this season. SMU downed then-eighth ranked Milwaukee School of Engineering 2-1 in overtime on Nov. 22. … The Cardinals equaled their season high with their four-goal effort against Marian on Dec. 9. SMU also scored four goals in a 6-4 loss at Hamline on Nov. 11. … SMU's Dec. 3 win over St. Olaf marked the first time this season SMU has won when its opponent scored the game's first goal (1-6-1). The Cardinals are 3-4-0 when scoring first.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
With their 2-1, 5-4 sweep of Hamline last weekend, the Tommies — ranked No. 12 in the latest USCHOcom national poll — have now won five straight and are 5-0-1 in their last six contests. … The five-game winning streak is a season-high for UST, which owned a four-game win streak earlier this season. … The Tommies are 15-4-4 in their last 23 games — including 10-2-3 vs. MIAC opponents. … UST, which currently sits atop the MIAC standings, three points ahead of Concordia,  has scored three or more goals in all 11 of its wins this season — including a season-high nine goals in a 9-4 win over Bethel on Jan. 7. … UST's nine goals against Bethel on Jan. 7 came from nine different players. … In two seasons under coach Jeff Boeser, the Tommies are 20-3-1 in games when they score three or more goals. In games when they score two or less, the Tommies are 5-9-3. … Last Friday's 2-1 overtime win over Hamline was the fifth OT game of the season for the Tommies, who are 3-0-2 in games going an extra period. … Eleven of UST's 16 games this season have been decided by one goal or less — including six of the Tommies' 11 wins. … Robby Philipp scored both of UST's goals in last Friday's 2-1 OT win over Hamline — including the game-winner 50 seconds into the overtime period. Philipp then netted his third straight goal to open the scoring in Saturday's rematch with the Pipers, while Alex Altenbernd, Riley Horgan, Chris Hickey and Chris Cass accounted for UST's other four Saturday goals. … UST has won its last 11 games when Philipp has scored a goal. … Philipp enters the weekend series against Saint Mary's with a team-high nine goals, while sharing the team's points lead (18) with Cass and Horgan. The trio are three of six UST players with 10 or more points through 16 games. Travis Baker (13), Matt Lipinski (12) and Altenbernd (12) are the other three. … Horgan owns a team-leading 16 assists, while Cass is second with 12. … Philipp and Cass have each netted three game-winning goals. … UST's 55 goals have come from 19 different players. … Drew Fielding finished with 26 saves in Friday's overtime win over Hamline, while Tyrone Simcoe stopped 28 HU shots in Saturday's 5-4 win. … UST has used three different goalies this season. Simcoe (2.70 GAA, .904 save percentage) has appeared in 11 games, while Fielding (1.99 GAA, .914 save percentage) and Geoff Sadjadi (1.64 GAA, .909 save percentage) have each appeared in three games. … UST has outscored its opponents 19-9 in the first period, but the Tommies have been outscored 16-14 in the third. … St. Thomas has scored first in 12 of its 16 games, going 9-2-1.