MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicks off its two-game conference series against Augsburg on the road on Friday, traveling to Ed Saugestad Arena for a 7 p.m. contest against the Auggies.


The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-4-2 MIAC | 4-7-3 Overall)
at Augsburg Auggies (2-6-0 MIAC | 5-6-4 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of games to St. Thomas last weekend. UST scored with less than a minute to go in overtime to hand SMU a 3-2 MIAC setback at the SMU Ice Arena on Saturday, then scored a pair of third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie and complete the sweep with a 3-1 win over the Cardinals at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. … Augsburg, meanwhile, dropped both of its conference games against Hamline last weekend, falling 3-1 in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, then dropping a 5-0 decision on the Auggies' home ice on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn.

SMU vs. Augsburg — A Year Ago:
February 4, 2011: The Cardinals — who entered their first game of a two-game MIAC series against Augsburg winless in their five conference games played on Fridays — left the SMU Ice Arena winless no more, as Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) scored twice to lead Saint Mary's to a 5-0 victory over the Auggies.
February 5, 2011: It took a period for them to get going, but the Cardinals turned it on in a big way in the second period. SMU scored two goals in the second period to take control, as they topped Augsburg 3-1 at Ed Saugestad Ice Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., to earn SMU the weekend sweep.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return home for Game 2 of their two-game MIAC series against the Auggies on Saturday. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. 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
SMU surrendered three goals in each of their two losses to St. Thomas last weekend and have now surrendered three goals in each of their last four losses — and in six of their eight losses overall. … Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Point, Mich.) and Dana Krueser (Maplewood, Minn.) accounted for SMU's two goals vs. St. Thomas last Saturday, while Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) scored the Cardinals' lone goal in Sunday's rematch with UST. … Coolsaet also added an assist Saturday, while Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) assisted on both SMU goals vs. UST. … DeBartolo  had her two-game goal-scoring streak snapped on Saturday, then had her three-game point streak ended on Sunday. … Stenseth's goal vs. St. Thomas Sunday was her team-leading sixth of the season — two more than Coolsaet, DeBartolo and Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.). … Stenseth also shares the team lead in points (10) with Olson. … Olson — who has led the team in scoring in each of the last two seasons — picked up her team-leading sixth assist on Stenseth's goal Sunday. … 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 23 saves against St. Thomas Saturday, then followed that up with a 24-save effort on Sunday. … Gustafson enters Friday's game at Augsburg boasting a 2.04 goals-against-average and a .903 save percentage. … Last Saturday's 3-2 loss to St. Thomas marked the fifth time this season the Cardinals have played an overtime game. It was also the second straight OT game that didn't end in a tie — SMU also dropped a 5-4 decision to St. Olaf in their last overtime game on Dec.  2. … SMU is now 1-2-6 in its last nine overtime games. … SMU has held its opponents to one goal or less in three of its four wins this season. … SMU's 4-1 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 15 marked just the second time in their last 22 games that the Cardinals have won when giving up the game's first goal (2-18-2). SMU's opponents have scored first in 10 of the Cardinals' 15 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-nine of the 37 goals allowed by SMU this season have come after the first period.

Augsburg Auggies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
With their 3-1 and 5-0 losses to Hamline, the Auggies are now 0-2-2 in their last four games. … Augsburg has now been outscored 32-6 in its six losses this season. … The Auggies have played five overtime games — four of which have ended in teis, and a 2-1 win over Saint Benedict on Dec. 10. … The Auggies enter Friday's game against Saint Mary's at Ed Saugestad Ice Arena winless in their six home games (0-4-2). Augsburg is 5-2-2 on the road this season. … Kendall Christian accounted for Augsburg lone goal against the Pipers last weekend. … Rachel Hennessy enters this weekend's series against Saint Mary's boasting a team-high 15 goals, while also leading the squad with 19 points. … Jessica Larkin, Sara Rajewsky and Casey Miller share the team lead in assists with five each. … Augsburg has scored just four power play goals this season, but the Auggies do own a pair of short-handed tallies. …


Brianna Schulz stopped 36 HU shots in Friday's 3-1 loss, while Alex Hall kicked out 25 Piper shots in Saturday's rematch. …