ASCHWAUBENON, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team, off since Dec. 8, return to action on Friday, squaring off against two-time defending national champion St. Norbert in a 7 p.m. nonconference game.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-6-0 Overall)
at St. Norbert Green Knights (10-2-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals' offense could not find the back of the net against Lake Forest, as the Foresters completed a two-game nonconference sweep of SMU with a 2-0 win on Dec. 8 in Lake Forest, Ill. The Foresters opened the series with a 5-3 win on Dec. 7. … St. Norbert, meanwhile, has also been off since Dec. 8, when the Green Knights completed a conference sweep of St. Scholastica with a 6-2 win in Duluth, Minn. St. Norbert opened that series with a 6-1 win on Dec. 7.

SMU vs. St. Norbert — Their Last Meeting:
January 7, 2012: The Cardinals, trailing 2-1 heading into third period, rattled off a pair of goals — including the game-winner by Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) with seven minutes remaining in regulation — as SMU knocked off the defending national champion Green Knights 3-2 at the SMU Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals close out the nonconference portion of their schedule on Saturday, as SMU travels to UW-Stevens Point for a 7 p.m. game against the nationally ranked Pointers at K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point, Wis.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Friday's game against St. Norbert is the fourth of five straight road games for the Cardinals, who close out a stretch of eight road games in nine contests on Saturday with a nonconference game at UW-Stevens Point. … SMU's 2-0 loss to Lake Forest marked the first time this season the Cardinals have been held without a goal. It was also the first shutout loss since SMU dropped a season-ending, 7-0 setback at Concordia on Feb. 18, 2012. … Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.), who recorded his second collegiate two-goal effort against St. Olaf on Nov. 30, scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season vs. Lake Forest in SMU's 5-3 loss to the Foresters on Dec. 7. … Mike Hill (Fort Worth, Texas) and Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) netted SMU's other two goals in that 5-3 loss. … Thompson and Hill each added an assist vs. the Foresters on Dec. 7. … Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) notched his first collegiate two-goal game vs. St. Olaf on Nov. 30. … Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) recorded the second three-point game of his career vs. St. Olaf on Nov. 30, but had his two-game goal-scoring streak snapped against Lake Forest on Dec. 7. … Thompson's seven goals are one more than Hill and Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.). … Hill is also the team-leader in assists (9) and points (15). … SMU boasts five players with 10 or more points through nine games — Hill (15), Thompson (13), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa / 10), Balko (10) and Wentland (10). … SMU's 43 goals have come from 15 different players, while 19 Cardinals have recorded at least one point. … 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. … Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) recorded a season-high 28 saves in SMU's 2-0 loss to Lake Forest on Dec. 8. … Scheib has now stopped 156 shots in eight games, compiling a 2.98 goals-against-average and an .886 save percentage. … SMU surrendered its first two shorthanded goals of the season vs. Lake Forest Friday — with both goals coming in a two-minute span late in the second period. … The Cardinals have scored 34 goals in their five 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. … The Cardinals have scored first in seven of their 11 games — including all five of their wins.

Scouting the St Norbert Green Knights:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
The Green Knights — winners of the last two NCAA Division III national championships — enter Friday's game vs. Saint Mary's ranked No. 6 in the latest USCHO.com poll, while also riding a four-game winning streak and a five-game (4-0-1) unbeaten streak. … SNC's two losses this year have come to Gustavus (2-1) and UW-Eau Claire (5-3). … The Green Knights opened the season with four straight wins, including back-to-back-to-back shutout victories to kick off defense of their national title. … Tyler Zepeda scored three goals and added an assist in SNC's 6-1 over St. Scholastica on Dec. 7, while Joe Perry scored two goals and Kyle Stroh and Cody Keefer had four-point games in the Green Knights' sweep-clinching 6-3 win a day later. … Stroh enters Friday's game vs. Saint Mary's leading the team in all three offensive categories with 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points. … Stroh is one of six Green Knights with 10 or more points — Keefer (16), Zepeda (15), Perry (14), Cullen Bradshaw (13) and Carl Erkstrom (10) are the other five. … David Jacobson has played 11 of the team's 13 games in goal, compiling a 1.27 goals-against-average and a .937 save percentage. The sophomore has also recorded four shutouts. … It doesn't matter to the Green Knights who scores the game's first goal — SNC is 5-1-1 when scoring first and 5-1-0 when their opponent scores first. … After falling to Saint Mary's 3-2 a year ago, the Green Knights went 14-1-1 en route to the school's third national hockey title. … SNC became just the third team in NCAA Division III hockey history to win consecutive national championships. St. Norbert finished the 2011-2012 season with a 21-5-5 record. … The Green Knights also won their 13th Northern Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship and their 10th NCHA Peters Cup title. … St. Norbert has made 13 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances since 1997, highlighted by trips to the Frozen Four in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Along with their back-to-back national titles in 2011 and 2012, the Green Knights also won it all in 2008, while finishing as national runner-up in 2004, 2006 and 2010.