MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicks off its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season on Saturday, traveling to the St. Thomas Ice Arena for a 2 p.m. showdown with St. Thomas.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC | 0-1-0 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (0-0-0 MIAC | 0-1-0 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals have been off since Nov. 2, when they opened the 2013-14 season with an 8-2 loss to fourth-ranked Gustavus in a nonconference game at Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap … St. Thomas kicked off its season on Saturday, falling to UW-River Falls 9-3 in a nonconference game at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. | Recap

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 18, 2013: For SMU, special teams were the difference in the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with St. Thomas. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Tommies' special teams were extra-special, as UST scored both a shorthanded and a power play goal in the game's opening period and never let SMU recover, handing Saint Mary's a 3-0 setback at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. | Recap
January 19, 2013: SMU did everything coach Terry Mannor could ask of them during Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Thomas at the SMU Ice Arena. For the second straight game, however, the puck refused to bounce the Cardinals' way, as St. Thomas completed its MIAC sweep of SMU with a 5-1 victory at the SMU Ice Arena | Recap

Up Next:
The Cardinals and Tommies square off again on Sunday afternoon, as SMU hosts UST in the rematch of their two-game conference series at the SMU Ice Arena.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Saturday's game is the second straight road contest for the Cardinals, who play four of their first five games — and five of their first seven — away from the SMU Ice Arena. … Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) scored the Cardinals' two goals in their season-opener against nationally ranked Gustavus on Nov. 2. … DeBartolo closed out the 2012-13 season sharing the team lead in assists (8), while finishing second in goals (7) and points (15). … Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.), Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) and Sierra Dell (Evergreen, Colo.) collected assists vs. GAC. … Klimek, along with Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) joined DeBartolo as the team's assist leaders a year ago. … The assist was the first of her collegiate career for Cwik. … Klimek, who shared the team assist lead with DeBartolo and Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.), recorded her first two-goal and two-assist games last season. … Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.), who led the team with 324 saves a year ago, recorded 15 saves against Gustavus on Nov. 2, while freshman Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) — making her first collegiate appearance — stopped 13 shots in relief against the Gusties. … The Cardinals are now 2-13-1 over the past two seasons when their opponent scores first.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
The Tommies' game against Saint Mary's Saturday is their second straight home game. … UST, which returns 23 players from last year's 14-8-2 team, was picked to finish second in the MIAC in the preseason coaches' poll. … After a 2-3 MIAC start last season, UST went 11-1-1 the rest of the season to tie for second in the conference. … St. Thomas' 9-3 loss to UW-River Falls last Saturday marked the second-straight season-opening loss for the Tommies — who are 0-3-1 in their last four season openers. … UW-River Falls' nine goals scored against the Tommies last Saturday — including seven straight after UST jumped out to a 2-0 lead ¬— were the most allowed by UST in program history. The previous high was eight goals, scored by Gustavus on Feb. 2, 2007. … Lauren Mumm, Kelsey Barnier and Rachel Friberg accounted for UST's three goals against UW-River Falls last Saturday, while Mackenzie Holm, Jenny Saxon, Nuala Flood and Courtney Umland all had assists. … Two-time All-America goalie Alise Riedel surrendered five goals on 14 shots in 30 minutes against the Falcons last Saturday, while Taylor Neisen allowed four goals on 10 shots in 30 minutes in relief. … Two of St. Thomas' three goals vs. UW-River Falls came in the first period. On the flip side, The Tommies surrendered four goals in the first, two in the second and three more in the third vs. the Falcons. … Christina Rozeske is a two-time All-America relays sprinter in track and field and has been a member of three conference title teams in outdoor track. … Over the last five seasons, UST is just 1-21-1 when allowing three or more goals. The Tommies are 53-16-10 when holding their opponents to two goals or less. … The Tommies are 10-4-2 since freshman Megan Juricko joined the team at the start of January 2013. She has four goals and six assists in those 16 games. … UST is gunning for its 14th consecutive trip to the conference playoffs. The Tommies have reached the MIAC playoff title game eight times with one title. … UST has had 13 consecutive winning seasons.