WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicks off its two-game weekend series against St. Thomas on Saturday, hosting the Tommies in a 2 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Ice Arena.


The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-3-2 MIAC | 4-6-3 Overall)
vs. St. Thomas Tommies (1-4-1 MIAC | 4-6-2 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals closed out their nonconference schedule against a conference foe last Saturday, bouncing St. Olaf 4-1 in Northfield, Minn. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, is coming off a 2-1 nonconference loss against seventh-ranked Amherst on Thursday at the St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 28, 2011: The Cardinals could not find a way to cool down red-hot St. Thomas, as the league-leading Tommies scored two goals in both the first and second periods in handing SMU a 4-1 MIAC setback at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.
January 29, 2011: Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) scored three minutes into overtime as the Cardinals recorded a 2-1 victory over conference-leading St. Thomas at the SMU Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals travel to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for the 2 p.m. conference rematch vs. the Tommies on Sunday.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
With their 4-1 win over St. Olaf on Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 2-1 in their last three games. … SMU has held its opponents to one goal or less in three of its four wins this season. … Last Saturday's win over St. Olaf marked just the second time in their last 20 games that the Cardinals have won when giving up the game's first goal (2-16-2). SMU's opponents have scored first in eight of the Cardinals' 13 games. … All four of SMU's goals vs. St. Olaf Saturday came in the third period. … Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.), Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.), Brittany Therrien (Macomb, Mich.) and Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) accounted for SMU's four goals vs. the Oles last Saturday — Stenseth's was the game-winner, while DeBartolo's was an empty netter. All four also recorded an assist vs. the Oles. … Stenseth has now posted two-point games in two of her last three contests. … Therrien has now scored in three of the Cardinals' last four games. … DeBartolo owns a two-game goal-scoring streak, having netted SMU's lone goal in its 3-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 7. … Stenseth enters Saturday's game against St. Thomas with a team-leading five goals, while sharing the top spot in points (9) with Olson. … Olson — who has led the team in scoring in each of the last two seasons — is also the team's assist leader with five, one more than Stenseth, Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Island, Mich.) and Breanna Peterson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.). … Olson recorded her first collegiate hat trick and her first collegiate five-point game in SMU's 5-3 win over St. Norbert on Nov. 4. … Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) made 27 saves against St. Olaf last Saturday and enters the weekend series against St. Thomas boasting a 1.97 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage. … SMU's 5-4 loss to St. Olaf on Dec. 2 marked the fourth time this season the Cardinals have played an overtime game. It was the first OT game that did not end in a tie. … SMU is now 1-1-6 in its last eight overtime games. …  The Cardinals' 2-1 win over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 6 snapped their season-high five-game winless streak (0-3-2). … With their split against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 6-7, the Cardinals and Blugolds have now split each of their last three two-game nonconference series. … Twenty-three of the 31 goals allowed by SMU this season have come after the first period.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
Thursday's loss to seventh-ranked Amherst snapped the Tommies' two-game winning streak. … After going 1-0-2 in its first three games, UST is 3-6-0 in its last nine games. … With Thursday's loss to Amherst, UST falls to 0-5-1 against nationally ranked teams this season — having also lost twice to No. 5 Gustavus (5-3, 3-2) and No. 9 Concordia (2-1, 4-1), while battling No. 10 UW-Superior to a season-opening 3-3 tie. … Thursday's 2-1 loss to Amherst was the sixth game decided by one goal or less. … Megan Parker scored UST's lone goal vs. Amherst Thursday. … Korinne O'Connor enters this weekend's games against Saint Mary's with a team-leading five goals, one more than Jenny Saxon and Kaylee Keys. … Parker is the team's asisst leader (6), while Saxon owns a team-best nine points. … O'Connor, Saxon and Keys have accounted for 13 of the team's 29 goals this season. … Chelsey Sitzmann made 19 saves in goal for the Tommies vs. Amherst Thursday. … Alise Riedel and Sitzmann have shared the goaltending details for the Tommies this year, with Riedel compiling a 1.97 goals-against-average and a .926 save percentage in nine starts, while Sitzmann has a 1.69 GAA and a .936 save percentage in three starts. … UST has outscored its opponents 16-2 in its four wins — including a 6-0 shutout of Trinity and a 4-0 win over UW-Eau Claire. … The Tommies have scored first in all four of their wins. UST is 0-4-1 when its opponent nets the first goal.