ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, heading to Drake Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown with St. Catherine.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-1-1 MIAC | 2-4-1 Overall) at St. Catherine Wildcats (1-2-1 MIAC | 2-3-1 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals stepped out of conference play last Saturday, surrendering four third-period goals in a 5-2 nonconference loss to St. Norbert at the Resch Olympic Pavilion in De Pere, Wis. | Recap
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats dropped a pair of MIAC games to Augsburg on Nov. 21-22, falling 3-2 in Minneapolis, Minn., on Nov. 21, before suffering a 2-1 setback at day later at Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn. | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—A Year Ago:
• December 6, 2013: Saint Mary's netted the game's first goal three minutes into the opening period, but the Wildcats responded with four unanswered goals in handing the Cardinals a 5-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
• December 7, 2013: The Wildcats scored three times in a 10-minute span—including the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining in regulation—as St. Catherine completed its conference sweep of the Cardinals with a 4-3 victory at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Wildcats square off again on Saturday, this time at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, as Saint Mary's entertains St. Catherine the second game of the teams' two-game conference series. Puck drops at 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Cardinals' 5-2 loss to St. Norbert last Saturday snapped their first two-game winning streak of the season. … Friday's game at St. Catherine is just the third road game of the season for the Cardinals. … Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) scored the Cardinals' two goals in their 5-2 loss to St. Norbert last Saturday. … Henderson's goal was her first in a Cardinal uniform, making the freshman the third Saint Mary's player to net her first collegiate goal this season—Molly Abraham (Plymouth, Minn.) and Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill.). … Abraham, who scored her first collegiate goal in her first collegiate game on Nov. 7 against UW-Superior, recorded her first collegiate two-goal game in Saint Mary's 3-2 win over Saint Benedict on Nov. 21. … Cwik's goal vs. St. Norbert last Saturday was her third of the season, moving her into a tie with Abraham for the team lead. … Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.)—who led the team in assists with 10 and shared the team lead in points with 15 a year ago—is the team's assist leader with four, while also boasting a team-best five points. … Marah Shields (Milford, Mich.) stopped 36 shots against St. Norbert last Saturday, equaling her career high. The sophomore goalie also posted 36 saves on Jan. 15, 2014—also against St. Norbert. … Shields picked up her first collegiate shutout on Nov. 22, stopping all 19 shots in the Cardinals' 2-0 victory over Saint Benedict. … Shields' effort marked the second straight Saturday shutout for the Cardinals, who battled St. Thomas to a 0-0 tie on Nov. 15 behind Tori Herrmann's (Elk River, Minn.) 43-save effort. … Herrmann's 43-save shutout vs. UST was the second shutout of her collegiate career. … Herrmann's 43 saves vs. the Tommies on Nov. 15 were a season high and one save shy of her career high. The junior stopped 44 shots against Concordia on Feb. 16, 2013. … Herrmann owns a team-leading 2.27 goals-against-average and a .925 save percentage, while Shields enters the weekend against St. Catherine with a 2.97 GAA and .910 save percentage. … Shields boasts a team-high 122 saves. … The Cardinals have scored first in four of their first seven games this season. … Saint Mary's did not trail in their season-opener against the UW-Superior—until UW-Superior scored 2:35 into overtime. … Four of the Cardinals' first seven 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 the teams' conference openers on Nov. 14-15 ranked No. 8. … The Cardinals' tie against St. Thomas on Nov. 15 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 six games have gone into overtime—along with its 0-0 tie vs. St. Thomas, Saint Mary's also dropped a season-opening 3-2 OT decision to UW-Superior on Nov. 7.
 
Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Wildcats head into Friday's game against Saint Mary's in the midst of a three-game winless streak (0-2-1). … All three of SCU's games during its current drought have been decided by one goal—1-1 tie vs. Hamline and 3-2 and 2-1 setbacks at the hands of Augsburg. … After scoring a combined seven goals in back-to-back wins over UW-Eau Claire and Hamline, St. Catherine has managed just four goals in its last three games. … Zoe Verkerke, Alex Peterson, and Annie Buttermore accounted for SCU's three goals in its conference series against Augsburg. … Megan Killmer enters the weekend as the team's leader in goals (4) and points (6). … Buttermore and Randi Fabsits share the team lead in assists with three each. … Pederson, Fabsits, Buttermore and Bailey Rasmussen are all second to Killmer in points with four each. … St. Catherine has started three different goals in their first six games. … Samantha Geissler, who made 27 saves against Augsburg on Nov. 21, has started three games, compiling a 2.36 goals-against-average and .919 save percentage. Abbi White, who made 19 saves vs. the Auggies on Nov. 22, owns a 1.51 GAA and .936 save percentage in two starts, while Kristen Pechacek allowed just one goal—making 39 saves—in her one start. … The Wildcats have gone 7-for-25 on the power play. On the flip side, St. Catherine has not allowed a power-play goal, killing all 15 opponent man advantages. …  St. Catherine has surrendered just one first-period goal. The Wildcats and their opponents have each scored six second-period goals and five third-period tallies.