ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team hits the road on Friday, traveling to the Municipal Athletic Complex for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game against Saint Benedict.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2-0 MIAC | 0-3-0 Overall) at Saint Benedict Blazers (0-2-0 MIAC | 0-3-0 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats (not available)

Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of games to St. Thomas in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference openers last weekend. St. Thomas scored a pair of goals in the last minute of the second period in beating SMU 4-3 last Saturday at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., before completing the sweep with a 4-2 win over the Cardinals on Sunday at the SMU Ice Arena. … Saint Benedict also came up empty in its two conference-opening games last weekend, falling to St. Olaf 3-2 at the MAC in St. Cloud, Minn., on Friday, then dropping a 6-2 decision the following afternoon in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. Saint Benedict — A Year Ago:
February 1, 2013: All season, Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) has made her presence felt by setting up her teammates — the SMU sophomore entered the Cardinals' weekend MIAC series against Saint Benedict boasting a team-leading seven assists. That all changed in Game 1 vs. the Blazers. Klimek went from the shadows to the spotlight, scoring two goals — one in each of the first two periods — in leading the Cardinal women's hockey team to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Blazers at the SMU Ice Arena.
February 2, 2013: For the second straight day, SMU and Saint Benedict women's hockey teams' game was decided by shutout. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this time around, it was the Blazers throwing up the goose egg. Less than 24 hours after SMU shut out Saint Benedict 4-0, the Blazers turned the tables in the rematch on Saturday, getting first- and third-period goals in handing the Cardinals a 2-0 setback at the SMU Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals and Blazers square off again Saturday afternoon, as CSB hosts SMU in the second game of their two-game conference series — a 2 p.m. contest at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Friday's game at Saint Benedict will be the third road game in four contests for the Cardinals, who play four of their first five games — and five of their first seven — away from the SMU Ice Arena. … Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) had a goal in each game against St. Thomas. Her first-period tally against the Tommies last Saturday was the first of her collegiate career. … Lindsay Paschke (New Prague, Minn.) also netted her first goal as a Cardinal in Friday's 4-3 loss to St. Thomas. … Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Ile, Mich.) and Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) accounted for SMU's other two goals against the Tommies last weekend. … Peterson, who led the nation with three short-handed goals a year ago, recorded her first short-handed tally in the third period against UST Sunday. … Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) — who shared the team's assist lead with Peterson and Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) a year ago — picked up her team-leading second and third assists of the season against the Tommies last Saturday. … Klimek heads into this weekend's games at Saint Benedict sharing the team lead in points (3) with Cwik. … SMU's seven goals this season have come from six different players — Cwik, Paschke, Coolsaet, Peterson, DeBartolo and Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.). … Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) —  who led the team with 324 saves a year ago — made her second straight start last Saturday against St. Thomas, finishing with 31 saves. … Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) made her first collegiate start in Sunday's rematch vs. UST, finishing with 25 saves. …  SMU has scored four of its seven goals in the second period. On the flip side, SMU has surrendered eight of its 16 goals against in the second period. … The Cardinals are 2-14-1 over the past two seasons when their opponent scores first.

Scouting The Saint Benedict Blazers:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of five straight home games for the Blazers, who will play seven of their first eight contests at home this season. … CSB heads into Friday's conference showdown with Saint Mary's looking to snap a season-opening three-game losing streak. … CSB has scored two or more goals in all three games this season. On the flip side, however, the Blazers have surrendered 16 goals in their first three contests — including seven in a 7-3 loss to St. Norbert and six in a 6-2 loss to St. Olaf. … Stephanie Kirk has scored four of the Blazers' seven goals this season. … Elli Marvin, Siri Berg-Moberg and Megan Lawry have accounted for CSB's other three goals. … Kirk also shares the team lead in points (4) with Marvin, who boasts a team-best three assists. … Kaitlyn Rolando has started two of CSB's three games in goal, compiling a 5.07 goals-against-average and an .855 save percentage, whiel Dory Johnson has a 6.00 GAA and an .806 save percentage in one start. … As a team, the Blazers are still searching for their first special-teams goal — going 0-for-11 on the power play through the season's first three games. … CSB has scored first in two of its three games. … The Blazers have scored three goals in the first period and four in the second — they are still searching for their first third-period goal of the season.