WINONA, Minn.  — After its first road game of the season last Saturday at St. Thomas, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team returns home on Saturday, hosting Saint Benedict in a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1-1 MIAC | 0-3-1 Overall) vs. Saint Benedict Blazers (2-0-0 MIAC | 3-2-0 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals went 0-1-1 against nationally ranked St. Thomas last weekend. The Tommies scored a pair of goals in the first and third periods in handing Saint Mary's a 4-1 setback in the teams' conference opener on Friday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, while the two teams battled to a 0-0 overtime time—thanks in large part to the 43-save effort of Cardinal goalie Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.)—in the Saturday rematch at the St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. | UST Recap 1 * UST Recap 2
• Saint Benedict: The Blazers kicked off conference play with a pair of wins last weekend, beating St. Olaf 5-3 in St. Cloud, Minn., then traveling to Northfield, Minn., to hand the Oles a 6-3 setback a day later | St. Olaf Recap 1 * St. Olaf Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict—A Year Ago:
• November 22, 2013: All week long, Saint Terry Mannor has had his team focusing on the "little things," in hopes of snapping out their season-opening funk. And those little things paid off in a big way, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 second-period lead en route to a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Saint Benedict at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud, Minn. | Recap
• November 23, 2013: A day after picking up their first win of the season—a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Saint Benedict—the Cardinals were even more impressive in the teams' conference rematch. Saint Mary's got goals from four different players—including two in the second period—as the Cardinals completed the two-game sweep of the Blazers with a 4-0 victory | Recap
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Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Blazers are back at it on Saturday, as Saint Mary's hosts Saint Benedict in the second game of their two-game conference series at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Puck drops at 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Last Saturday's game at St. Thomas was the first road game of the season for the Cardinals, who play five of their first six contests on their home ice. … The Cardinals' first four games this season have been against nationally ranked teams. UW-Superior was ranked No. 9 in the USCHO.com Top 10 when the teams met on Nov. 7-8, while St. Thomas headed into last weekend's conference openers ranked No. 8. … The Cardinals' tie against St. Thomas last Saturday marked the second time in the last three seasons that Saint Mary's has played to a 0-0 tie. Saint Mary's and Concordia battled to a 0-0 stalemate on Feb. 15, 2013. … Two of the Cardinals' first four games have gone into overtime—along with Saturday's 0-0 tie vs. St. Thomas, Saint Mary's also dropped a season-opening 3-2 decision to UW-Superior on Nov. 7. … Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) accounted for the Cardinals' lone goal against St. Thomas last Friday. Cwik has now scored each of Saint Mary's last two goals—both assisted by Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.). … DeBartolo—who led the team in assists with 10 and shared the team lead in points with 15 a year ago—has now recorded an assist in three of the Cardinals' four games this season. … DeBartolo leads the team in assists (3) and points (3), while Cwik is first on the team in goals with two. … The Cardinals' two goals in their season-opening 3-2 overtime loss to UW-Superior on Nov. 7 came from freshmen—Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill. and Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.)—who were playing in their first collegiate games. … Pierson also picked up her first collegiate assist, as did fellow freshman Hannah Croonquist (St. Paul, Minn.). … Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.) stopped all 43 shots she faced vs. St. Thomas last Saturday en route to her second collegiate shutout—and her first honor as MIAC Athlete of the Week … Herrmann's 43 saves vs. the Tommies were one shy of her career high. The junior stopped 44 shots against Concordia on Feb. 16, 2013. … Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) stopped 33 shots against the Tommies last Friday, giving the sophomore a team-high 67 saves in her two starts this season. …  St. Thomas netted the game's first goal last Friday, marking the first time this season the Cardinals have not scored first. … Saint Mary's did not trail in their season-opener against the UW-Superior—until UW-Superior scored 2:35 into overtime.
 
Scouting The Saint Benedict Blazers:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
After opening the season with back-to-back losses to St. Norbert, the Blazers enter this weekend's games against Saint Mary's riding a three-game winning streak. … CSB's six goals in last Saturday's win over St. Olaf were a season-high, one more than the five goals the Blazers scored in last Friday's conference-opening win over the Oles. … Liz Hermes scored a pair of goals in last Friday's win over St. Olaf, while Elli Marvin, Kimberly Patterson and Siri Berg-Moberg accounted for the other three goals in the 5-3 victory. … Marvin added two more goals in Saturday's rematch vs. the Oles, with Hermes Brigette Miller, Stephanie Kirk, and Aly Hoffman also scoring in the 6-3 win. … With her three goals over the weekend, Marvin moved into the team lead in goals (4) and points (6). … Marvin, Kirk, Berg-Moberg, Miller and Kacee Medved all share the team lead in assists with two each. … Jenna Traut has started all five games in goal for the Blazers, compiling a 3.21 goals-against-average and an .895 save percentage. … Miller has stopped 137 of the 153 shots she's faced this season. … Saint Benedict has scored nine of its 17 goals in the third period, while the Blazers' opponents have netted eight of their 16 goals in the game's middle period.