MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team returns to the ice Saturday for its second game of the Cardinals' two-game MIAC series against St. Thomas, heading to the St. Thomas Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. conference rematch.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1-0 MIAC | 1-2-0 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (1-0-0 MIAC | 3-0-0 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
| Video Preview | GameDay Program

Last Night:
The Tommies scored three unanswered third-period goals in rallying for a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at the SMU Ice Arena.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 18, 2013: Heading into its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown, SMU and St. Thomas boasted two of the hottest goalies in the conference. SMU's Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) had allowed just two goals in back-to-back Cardinal wins over then-league leading Bethel last weekend, while Drew Fielding allowed just one goal in the Tommies' 1-0 overtime loss and 3-0 UST victory against Hamline. And the two did not disappoint. Scheib kicked out 38 St. Thomas shots, while Fielding stopped 29 SMU shots as the two teams skated to a 0-0-conference tie at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 19, 2013: After going 65 minutes without a goal at the SMU Ice Arena a day earlier, SMU and St. Thomas decided to turn up the offensive heat in the rematch. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Tommies had a bit more firepower, as UST scored five of the game's first seven goals and cruised to a 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the St. Thomas Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals step out of conference play next weekend, hosting UW-Superior (Friday) and UW-Stevens Point (Saturday) in a pair of 7 p.m. contests at the SMU Ice Arena. … St. Thomas is also at home for a pair of nonconference games next weekend, hosting UW-Stevens Point (Friday) and UW-Stout (Saturday) at the UST Ice Arena.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Excluding last weekend's neutral-site MIAC Hockey Showcase games, Saturday's game at St. Thomas is the first of just two road games before the semester break for the Cardinals, who play their next six games at the SMU Ice Arena. … Mike Wolter (Antigo, Wis.) accounted for SMU's lone goal against the Tommies Friday. It was Wolter's first collegiate goal. … Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) picked up the assist on Wolter's goal for his first point of the season. … Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) — who finished second on the team in all three offensive categories a year ago with 10 goals, 11 assists and 21 points — leads the team with four points (2 G, 2 A). … Thompson had a goal and an assist in the Cardinals' season-opener against Augsburg, marking the second straight season the SMU forward has recorded a multiple-point game in the team's season-opener. Thompson notched his first collegiate three-point game (1 goal, 2 assists) in SMU's 7-2 win over Bethel to open last year's season. … Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa), Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) and Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) have accounted for SMU's other goals this season. … Gruse's third-period tally against St. Olaf last Sunday — which broke a 2-2 tie with two minutes remaining in regulation — was his first goal as a Cardinal. … Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) — who stopped a career-high 36 shots in SMU's 3-2 win over St. Olaf last Sunday — finished with 27 saves against the Tommies Friday. … Fellow goalie Mitch Fernsler (York, Pa.) recorded 35 saves in his first collegiate start against Augsburg in the teams' season-opener on Nov. 2 … As a team, the Cardinals have converted on three of their 15 power-play opportunities, while holding their opponents to just two PP goals in 20 chances. … SMU has scored three goals in the second period and three in the third period this season. The Cardinals are still searching for their first, first-period goal of the year. … SMU, which went 5-3-0 when scoring first and 3-13-0 when they opponent scored first a year ago, has scored the game's first goal in two of its three games this season — going 1-1-0. … With their 6-2 loss to Augsburg and 3-2 win over St. Olaf, the Cardinals have now gone 1-1 in each of the last two MIAC Hockey Showcases.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
The Tommies have won or shared the last two MIAC championships and have posted 31 consecutive winning seasons. … UST has qualified the conference playoffs all 28 years the format has been in place. … The Tommies are ranked No. 13 in this week's USCHO.com top-15 poll. … The Tommies allowed just 25 goals in 16 MIAC regular-season games a year ago — the fewest by any team in the last nine years in conference play. … The Tommies' 11 goals this season have come from eight different players — Alex Altenbernd and Thomas Williams each scored their second goals of the seaosn against the Cardinals Friday. … Altenbernd and also shares the team lead in assists (3) with Nick Nielsen, and leads the squad with five points. … With Friday's win, Drew Fielding improved to 22-8-2 between the pipes in his UST career with a 1.83 GAA and .923 save percentage. … Fielding finished with 22 saves against the Cardinals on Friday and enters Saturday's rematch with a 1.99 GAA and a .918 save percentage. … Last season, UST's 1.81 GAA was fourth best in NCAA Division III. … St. Thomas is 29-2 the last three seasons when it scores three or more goals. … UST?boasted a school-record seven shutouts last season — including a 0-0 tie vs. Saint Mary's, the Tommies' first scoreless tie in more than 70 seasons.