ADRIAN, Mich. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team steps out of conference play on Saturday, squaring off against Adrian in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game at the Arrington Ice Arena. The Cardinals then travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sunday for an exhibition game against the U.S. National Development U18 Team.


Saturday's Matchup:
Arrington Ice Arena | Adrian, Mich. | 6:30 CDT
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2-0 Overall)
At Adrian Bulldogs (6-0-0 Overall)

Sunday's Matchup:
Ice Cube | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 1:30 CDT
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2-0 Overall)
At U.S. National Development U18 Team (8-6-2 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats / Video (Adrian) | Live Stats (U.S. U18) | Video Preview

Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since Nov. 9-10, when they recorded a sweep of Hamline in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. SMU routed the Pipers 9-2 at the SMU Ice Arena on Nov. 9, then completed the sweep with a 6-2 victory on Saturday at the Vadnais Heights (Minn.) Sports Complex. … Adrian, meanwhile, picked up a pair of victories last weekend, traveling to Lake Forest, Ill., and knocking off Lake Forest 6-2 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday. … The U.S. National Development U18 Team has been off since last Sunday, when they held off a third-period Cedar Rapids charge to beat the Roughriders 4-3 in a USHL game in Ann Arbor, Mich.

SMU vs. Adrian — Their Last Meeting:
Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Cardinals and the Bulldogs.

SMU vs. U.S. National Development U18 Team — Their Last Meeting:
Sunday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Cardinals and the U.S. U18 Team.

Up Next:
Following Sunday's exhibition game against the U.S. National Development U18 Team in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Cardinals return to MIAC play on Friday, hosting St. Olaf in a 7:30 p.m. game at the SMU Ice Arena. The same two teams will square off again on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Northfield, Minn. … Adrian, meanwhile, hosts Concordia-Wis. for a pair of games next weekend. The Bulldogs and Falcons will play at 7 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday, with both games at the Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Mich. … The U.S. National Development U18 Team is back in action on Friday, Nov. 30, traveling to Huntsville, Ala., for a 7 p.m. contest against the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
With their 9-2 and 6-2 wins over Hamline on Nov. 9-10, the Cardinals recorded their first conference sweep since taking a pair of games from Concordia during the 2010-11 season. … SMU enters Saturday's showdown with Adrian riding a three-game winning streak — the Cardinals' first three-game winning streak since beating St. Olaf (nonconference) and sweeping Concordia early in the 2010-11 season. … The Cardinals have now scored 27 goals in their four wins this season — including a season-high nine goals in their 9-2 rout of Hamline on Nov. 9. … SMU's nine goals against the Pipers are the most since SMU erupted for 14 goals in a 14-3 win over Concordia during the 2006-07 season. … Mike Hill (Fort Worth, Texas) picked up his first collegiate two-goal game in SMU's 9-2 win over Hamline on Nov. 9, then followed that up with his second straight two-goal game the following night in the teams' rematch. … Hill finished the weekend series vs. the Pipers with seven points, earning the freshman MIAC Player of the Week honors. … Hill — SMU's first MIAC Player of the Week recipient since Dan Smith won the honor on Nov. 19, 2007 — has now recorded at least one point in all five games he's played. … Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) also scored two goals against the Pipers in SMU's 9-2 Nov. 9 win. … Balko's two-goal effort was the second of the season and third of his collegiate career. His other two two-goal games both came against Bethel — in SMU's season-opening 7-2 win on Oct. 27, and on Jan. 21, 2011. … Balko assisted on three of SMU's six goals vs. Hamline on Nov. 10. It was his first collegiate three-assist game. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) and Nick Gualano (Prospect Heights, Ill.) each scored a goal in both games vs. the Pipers. … Gualano's goal on Nov. 9 was his first as a Cardinal, while Adam Robson (Burnsville, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal the following night. … Hill enters this weekend's game against Adrian with a team-leading 11 points. He also leads the team in assists with six, while sharing the team's goal-scoring lead (5) with Balko. … Hill's 11 points rank him third in NCAA Division III, while his five goals are fourth. … The Cardinals' 29 goals have come from 12 different players, while 17 players have recorded at least one point. … Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) has scored a goal in four of the team's six games. … After scoring just one shorthanded goal all of last season, SMU has netted four shorthanded goals this season. … The four shorthanded goals are the most since SMU tallied five shorties during the 2006-07 season. … Scott Deur (Big Rapids, Mich.) owns two of the team's four shorthanded goals — which ties him for the NCAA Division III lead. … SMU scored two of its four shorthanded goals in its 5-2 win over St. Scholastica on Nov. 3. It was the first time since Nick Meeker and Chad Damerow scored shorthanded goals against UW-Superior on Nov. 21, 2003 that the Cardinals scored two shorthanded goals in the same game. … Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) stopped 43 shots in picked up both wins in goal vs. Hamline. The junior stopped 19 shots in the 9-2 win on Nov. 9, then added 24 saves in the rematch a day later. … Scheib enters Saturday's game vs. Adrian with a 2.94 goals-against-average and an .883 save percentage. … Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced against St. Scholastica on Nov. 3 en route to his first win in his first collegiate start. … Gaffy becomes the first Cardinal goalie to win in his first collegiate start since Curtis Nosal made 25 saves in a 4-1 win over St. Olaf on Nov. 9, 2002. … The Cardinals' 7-2 win over Bethel on Oct. 26 was their first season-opening win since beating Finlandia 9-3 to open the 2002-2003 season. … The Cardinals' 5-2 win over St. Scholastica on Nov. 3 snapped a three-game losing streak vs. the Saints, dating back to a 3-1 SMU win on Jan. 6, 2007. … The Cardinals have scored first in all four of their wins, while SMU's opponents have netted the first goal in both of the Cardinals' losses.

Scouting the Adrian Bulldogs:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Adrian enters Saturday's nonconference game against Saint Mary's having jumped from No. 5 to No. 3 in the latest USCHO.com national poll and are riding a season-opening six-game winning streak. … Saturday's game vs. SMU is the first nonconference game of the season for the Bulldogs, who outscored MCHA opponents Northland, Milwaukee School of Engineering and Lake Forest by a combined 38-9. … Adrian currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in several different stat categories entering the Thanksgiving weekend. The Bulldogs are second in Division III in scoring, averaging 6.33 goals per game, and second in scoring margin, winning by an averaged of 4.83 goals per game. … Josh Ranalli leads the team in both assists (8) and points (11). His 11 points through six games ranks No. 9 in NCAA Division III. … Freshman Shaw Merasty has scored seven goals in the Bulldogs' first six games to not only lead the team, but also lead all NCAA Division III rookies. … Merasty is second on the team in points (10), while Josh Cousineau shares the team lead in assists with Ranalli and is third on the team in points with nine. … James Hamby and Scott Shackell have shared the goaltending duties, with Hamby compiling a 0.79 goals-against-average and a .962 save percentage in 151:57 minutes, while Shackell has a 2.03 GAA and a .931 save percentage in 206:56 minutes. … Shackell has made a team-leading 95 saves, with Hamby stopping 51 shots this season. … Adrian has not allowed a third-period goal this season, outscoring its opponents 11-0 in the game's final 20 minutes. The Bullodgs have outscored their opponents 16-4 in the first period and 11-5 in the second. … Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is just the third home game of the season for Adrian, which is 4-0-0 on the road and 2-0-0 on its home ice.

Scouting the U.S. National Development U18 Team:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Team USA enters Sunday's exhibition game against Saint Mary's riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) — including a 2-2 tie against NCAA Division I University of Minnesota and an 8-1 win over MIAC rival St. Thomas. … The U18 Team has also played NCAA Division I opponents University of Wisconsin (L, 5-0), Notre Dame (T, 1-1), University of North Dakota (L, 6-4), Bemidji State (L, 4-3) and Cornell University (L, 6-2). … The U-18s are 2-4-2 against NCAA competition this season. They are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games, including a 6-0-1 mark in USHL and college contests. … Anthony Louis has scored three goals in the U18's last two games — including two in the 4-3 win over Cedar Rapids. … Tyler Motte has scored a goal in back-to-back games. … Thatcher Demko stopped 19 shots against Chicago in a 7-2 win last Saturday, while Hunter Miska had 16 saves vs. Cedar Rapids Sunday. … The U18's outshot Cedar Rapids 48-19 last Sunday. … Tyler Kelleher paces the U-18s in scoring with team-highs of 10 goals and 16 points while Louis is second in both categories, scoring nine goals and totaling15 points Motte is third in goals (8) and assists (13), while Will Butcher is the team-leader in assists (10) an dis tied with Motte for third with 10 points. … Demko and Miska have shared the goaltending duties, with Demko owning an 8-2-2 record along with a 3.51 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. Miska, meanwhile, is 4-4-1 with a 3.48 GAA and an .849 save percentage. … The U18s have outscored their opponents 61-49, including 19-11 in the first period. …