WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team kicks off its home season on Friday, as the Cardinals host UW-Superior in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game at the SMU Ice Arena.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1-0 Overall)
vs. UW-Superior Yellowjackets (1-1-0 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals kicked off their season by going 1-1-0 at the MIAC Men's Hockey Showcase in Blaine, Minn., last weekend. SMU opened with an impressive 7-2 win over Bethel on Saturday, before falling to Saint John's 8-1 on Sunday. … UW-Superior, meanwhile, kicked off its season with a split against St. Scholastica in Superior, Wis., last weekend. The Yellowjackets fell 5-1 in Friday's opener, then rebounded with a 6-4 win on Saturday.

SMU vs. UW-Superior — Their Last Meeting:
November 5, 2011: As if playing the ninth-ranked team in the country wasn't a daunting enough task, the Cardinals forced to square off against UW-Superior with a patchwork lineup that was without four regulars from the night before due to injury. But you would not have know by watching the Cardinals play, as SMU gave the Yellowjackets all they could handle, only to come up one goal short in dropping a heartbreaking 4-3 decision at Westmar Arena in Superior, Wis.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back on their home ice on Saturday, as SMU hosts St. Scholastica in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game at the SMU Ice Arena. … UW-Superior, meanwhile, heads to Northfield, Minn., for a 2 p.m. nonconference showdown with St. Olaf.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Cardinals' 7-2 win over Bethel last Saturday was their first season-opening win since beating Finlandia 9-3 to open the 2002-2003 season. … SMU's seven goals against the Royals were the most since the 2006-2007 season, when the Cardinals scored seven or more goals three times — beating Lake Forest 7-4 and Concordia 14-3 and 7-2. … Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) and Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals at the MIAC Men's Hockey Showcase last weekend, each scoring two goals and adding an assist. … Marx scored both of his goals vs. Bethel on Saturday, as the sophomore posted his second collegiate two-goal game and first collegiate three-point night. … Thompson, meanwhile, enters this weekend's games vs. UW-Superior and St. Scholastica having scored a goal in each of SMU's first two games. … Joey Van Antwerp (Farmington Hills, Mich.) picked up his first two collegiate assists last weekend, while Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.), Scott Deur (Big Rapids, Mich.), Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) and Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) all scored their first goals of the season. … After scoring just one shorthanded goal in their 25 games a year ago, SMU scored its first shorthanded goal of the season in their first game on Saturday. … Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) made 25 saves in earning the win against Bethel last Saturday and enters Friday's game against UW-Superior with a 4.12 goals-against-average and an .842 save percentage. …  The Cardinals scored three goals in both the first and second periods last weekend, while SMU's first two opponents netted a combined nine of their 10 goals after the first period.

Scouting the UW-Superior Yellowjackets:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
UW-Superior enters Friday's game against Saint Mary's having split with St. Scholastica last weekend. … The Yellowjackets, who finished fifth in the NCHA regular-season standings a year ago, received one first-place vote and were slotted fourth in the NCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll. … UW-Superior's seven goals last weekend against St. Scholastica came from seven different players — Pat Dalbec, Nick Stoskopf, Kyle Leahy, Joey Massingham, Brett Meyers, Andy Singerhous and Nick Drill. … Dalbec also added a pair of assists and enters this weekend with a team-leading three points. … Dennis Nordmark was the staring goalie in both games vs. St. Scholastica, stopping 29 of the 37 shots he faced. He heads to Saint Mary's Friday with a 4.03 goals-against-average and a .784 save percentage. … UW-Superior went just 1-for-14 on the power play against St. Scholastica. … The Yellowjackets were outscored 4-2 in the first period against the Saints, with both teams scoring three goals in the second period and two in the third. … This will be the final year for the the Yellowjackets' hockey conference, the NCHA. The five Wisconsin state schools — Superior, Stout, Stevens Point, River Falls and Eau Claire — will play exclusively under the auspices of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) after this season.  For years, the five Wisconsin state schools played as both the NCHA and the WIAC.  St. Norbert and St. Scholastica, meanwhile, will be moving into the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association next season.