ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicks off its final conference series of the season on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to the Warner Coliseum for a 2 p.m. conference game against Hamline.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-11-0 MIAC | 7-15-1 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (3-11-2 MIAC | 7-14-2 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals split their two-game conference series against Concordia last weekend, falling to the Cobbers 4-0 on Friday, before turning the tables in the rematch, dropping CC 2-0 at the SMU Ice Arena. … Hamline picked up a pair of MIAC wins last weekend, as the Pipers swept Augsburg by scores of 3-2 in overtime and 5-3.

SMU vs. Hamline — A Year Ago:
November 9, 2012: Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) scored the game-winner with 2:52 left in overtime, as the Cardinals kicked off conference play with a 2-1 victory over Hamline at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.
November 10, 2012: The Cardinals got goals from four different players — including the eventual game-winner off the stick of Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) with less than six minutes remaining in regulation — as SMU completed a two-game conference sweep of the Pipers with a 4-3 win at the SMU Ice Arena.

Up Next:
The Cardinals and Pipers square off again on Sunday, as the two teams close out their regular-season schedules with a 2 p.m. conference rematch at the SMU Ice Arena.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Lindsay Paschke (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) accounted for SMU's two goals — both on the power play — in last Saturday's 2-0 win over Concordia. … Lien's goal vs. the Cobbers moved her into a tie for the team lead (6) with Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) — one goal more than Therrien, Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.), Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) and McKenna Parent (Anoka, Minn.). … Peterson picked up her team-leading ninth assist vs. Concordia last Saturday and also leads the team with 14 points, one more than DeBartolo. … SMU boasts four players with 10 or more points — Peterson (14), DeBartolo (13), Parent (10) and Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / 10). … DeBartolo put together a team-best five-game point-scoring streak in January, recording nine points — two goals and seven assists. … Lien had a goal and two assists in SMU's 5-1 win over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 11 en route to her first collegiate three-point game. … Peterson recorded the fourth three-point game of her collegiate career against Saint Benedict on Nov. 23, recording a goal and two assists in SMU's 4-0 win. … SMU boasts five players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season — Paschke, Lien, Cwik, Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Ingrid Curwin (Duluth, Minn.). … SMU's 51 goals have come from 14 different players. … SMU has scored three shorthanded goals this season — with Lien accounting for two of them. … All three of SMU's shorthanded goals have come in the third period. … Gustafson picked up her fourth shutout of the season — and ninth of her collegiate career — with a 24-save performance against Concordia last Saturday. … Gustafson has now recorded at least one shutout in each of her four seasons as a Cardinal. … Gustafson stopped a season-high 39 shots in SMU's 2-1 win over Bethel on Jan. 17. … Gustafson, who leads the team with 411 saves, enters Saturday's game against Hamline boasting a team-best 2.32 goals-against-average and .915 save percentage. … Fellow goalie Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) finished with 24 saves against Concordia last Friday. … Shields, who stopped a career-high 36 shots in the Cardinals' 2-2 tie vs. St. Norbert on Jan. 15, owns a 3.61 GAA and .881 save percentage. …  The Cardinals posted a season-high 52 shots on goal in their 3-0 win over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 10. It was the most shots on goal since Feb. 25, 2004, when the Cardinals peppered Hamline with 53 shots. … SMU's five goals in its 5-1 Jan. 11 win over UW-Eau Claire equaled their season high. The Cardinals also netted five goals in a 6-5 loss to Lake Forest on Jan. 5. … SMU has scored 35 of its 51 goals after the first period — netting 18 goals in the second and 17 more in the third. … The Cardinals have scored first in 11 of their 22 games — including five of their six wins. SMU is just 1-9-0 when its opponent scores first. … SMU collected its second series sweep of the season with its 3-0, 5-1 victories over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. Jan. 10-11. The Cardinals also swept Saint Benedict (3-1 and 4-0) in late November. … SMU's Nov. 26 game against ninth-ranked St. Scholastica marked the second time this season SMU has faced a team ranked in the USCHO.com Top 10. SMU dropped an 8-2 decision to sixth-ranked Gustavus to open the season. … The Cardinals have now faced St. Scholastica twice in the program's history — with the Saints winning both games 2-1.

Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
With their sweep of Augsburg last weekend, the Pipers have now won two straight and four of their last five — the lone loss a 6-0 decision vs. Saint Benedict on Feb 8. … Hamline has held its opponents to two goals or less in five of their seven wins this season. … Five of Hamline's seven wins have come on the Pipers' home ice. HU is 5-5-1 at home and just 2-9-1 on the road. … Jordan Verleye scored three of Hamline's eight goals vs. Augsburg last weekend, while Magill added one goal in each of the two games. … With her three goals vs. the Auggies, Verleye pushed her team-leading goal total to 11. … Seven of Verleye's 11 goals have come on the power play. … Verleye also shares the team lead in points (19) with Corinne Henning, who boasts a team-leading 13 assists. … Verleye and Henning are two of three Pipers with 10 or more points this season — Chelsea Koehn is the other with 13 points. … Katie Beckman and Sam Stark have shared the goaltending duties, with Beckman owning a team-best 2.69 goals-against-average and .911 save percentage in 12 games, while Stark owns a 3.90 GAA and .887 save percentage in 14 appearances. … Stark has made a team-leading 391 saves. … Hamline has been outscored 83-45 — including 28-13 in the first period. … The Pipers are 2-2-0 when scoring the game's first goal, but just 5-12-2 when their opponent scores first. … Last Friday's 3-2 wino over Augsburg was Hamline's third overtime game of the season — HU is unbeaten (1-0-2) in those three OT contests. … HU's five goals vs. the Auggies last Saturday were a season high. On the flip side, the Pipers have surrendered five or more goals eight times this season — including a season-high 12 in a season-opening 12-1 loss to UW-Superior on Nov. 1.