WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team honors its four graduating seniors as it takes to the ice Friday for the first of two MIAC games against Saint John's at the SMU Ice Arena. Pre-game ceremony starts at 7:45 p.m.g, with the puck dropping at 8 p.m.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-8-1 MIAC | 4-14-1 Overall)
vs. Saint John's Johnnies (5-5-0 MIAC | 7-10-2 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | Streaming Video | GameDay Program | Senior Salute

Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of heartbreakers to Augsburg last weekend, falling 3-2 Friday at the SMU Ice Arena, the dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Auggies at Ed Saugestad Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday. … Saint John's, meanwhile, split its conference series with Hamline last weekend, winning 4-1 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn., on Friday, then falling, 5-1 a day later in Vadnais Heights, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint John's — A Year Ago:
February 12, 2011: SMU got a goal from Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) at 7:15 of the third period to beat Saint John's 4-3 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
February 13, 2011: Saint John's scored three first-period goals and never looked back in handing SMU a 4-2 MIAC setback at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.

Up Next:
The same two teams are back on the SMU Ice Arena ice on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Johnnies in a 4 p.m. contest.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
Last Saturday's 5-4 overtime loss at Augsburg was the 11th game this season that has been decided by one goal or less. … Only two of the Cardinals' 19 games have been decided by more than two goals. … SMU's four goals vs. Augsburg Saturday equaled the Cardinals' highest offensive output of the season. SMU is 1-2 in those three four-goal games — beating Marian (4-2), while falling to Hamline (5-4) and Augsburg (5-4). Ironically, both of SMU's four-goal losses came in overtime. … Saturday's OT game vs. Augsburg was the fourth overtime game this season, with SMU going 1-2-1. … SMU's 2-1 victory over MSOE on Nov. 22 was the Cardinals' first overtime win since beating UW-River Falls 2-1 on Jan. 17, 2009. … Last Saturday's 5-4 OT loss to Augsburg snapped a streak of four straight games in which SMU had scored two goals. … Saturday's game vs. Augsburg marked the 10th time this season — and fifth in their last six games — that the Cardinals scored the game's first goal. … Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.), who extended his goal-scoring streak to six straight games with a goal on Friday, was held off the scoreboard in the teams' rematch on Saturday. … Nagel's streak was the longest such streak since Lenny Hofmann scored in six straight games during the 2003-04 season. … During his streak,  Nagel scored one game-winner — against St. Norbert on Jan. 7 — while also netting the game-tying goal against Bethel on Jan. 14. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored a goal in both games vs. Augsburg last weekend, while Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) scored twice and Ryan Griffiths (Arvada, Colo.) once to account for SMU's other three goals on Saturday. … Wentland has now netted a goal in three straight games. … With his two goals vs. Augsburg last weekend, Wentland moved into a tie with Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) for the team's goal-scoring lead with seven. … Balko also leads the team in assists with eight, and points with 14. … Balko is one of three players with 10 or more points. Wentland (13) and Nagel (11) are the other two. … The Cardinals netted a powerplay goal in both games vs. Augsburg last weekend and have scored 18 goals with the man advantage. … Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) stopped 22 Augsburg shots Friday, while Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) kicked out 40 shots in Saturday's rematch. … Scheib's 40 saves were a season high and one short of his career-best 41 saves against Gustavus on Feb. 19, 2010. … Horstman and Scheib have shared the goaltending duties this season, with Horstman owning a 3.41 goals-against-average and an .890 save percentage, while Scheib has a 3.42 GAA and an .895 save percentage. … All four of SMU's wins — and their lone tie — have come on their home ice. … Two of the Cardinals' 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. … 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. … SMU's 2-2 tie vs. Bethel on Jan. 21 was the Cardinals' first tie of the season. … 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).

Saint John's Johnnies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
Saturday's 5-1 loss at Hamline snapped the Johnnies' season-high four-game winning streak. … During their four-game run, the Johnnies outscored their opponents 14-6. … Hamline's five goals on Saturday marked the fourth time this season the Johnnies have surrendered five goals this season. The other three all came against St. Thomas — 5-3 and 5-4 losses on Nov. 11-12, and a 5-3 loss Dec. 10. … The Johnnies enter the weekend against Saint Mary's having played in three overtime games, going 0-1-2. … Nine of SJU's 19 games have been decided by one goal or less. … SJU's four goals in last Friday's 4-1 win over Hamline came from four different players — Jascha Pettit, Phil Johnson, Conor Rooney and Dave Mylrea — while Wally Cossette accounted for the Johnnies' lone goal in Saturday's rematch. … Pettit's goal was his team-leading eighth of the season, while Mylrea's was his first collegiate goal. … John Haeg owns the team lead in both assists (15) and points (19). … Haeg is one of three Johnnies with 10 or more assists and one of eight with 10 or more points. … Tony Civello has seen the major of the work between the pipes for the Johnnies, compiling a 3.26 goals-against-average and an .885 save percentage in 14 starts, while J.D. Wells owns a 1.63 GAA and a .927 save percentage in six starts. … SJU and its opponents have each scored 23 goals in the third period. … The Johnnies are 5-2-0 when scoring first, but just 2-8-2 when their opponent scores the game's first goal. … Five of Saint John's seven wins have come on the Johnnies' home ice. SJU is 2-8-1 on the road.