ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team hits the road on Friday, traveling to Gustavus' Don Roberts Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against league-leading and nationally ranked Gustavus.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-2-1 MIAC | 7-6-2 Overall) at #6 Gustavus Gusties (7-0-1 MIAC | 11-2-2 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals posted their second conference sweep of the season with back-to-back wins over Bethel last weekend. Saint Mary's got a goal by Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) with less than two minutes remaining in regulation in last Friday's 2-1 win at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., while Tori Herrmann made 24 saves for her second shutout of the season in Saint Mary's 1-0 victory Saturday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Bethel Recap 1 * Bethel Recap 2
• Gustavus: The Gusties picked up a pair of conference wins over Augsburg last weekend. GAC opened its two-game MIAC series with the Auggies posting a convincing 5-0 victory on Friday in St. Peter, Minn., but needed a pair of third-period goals to complete the sweep with a come-from-behind 2-1 win in Saturday's rematch in Minneapolis, Minn. | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—A Year Ago:
• November 2, 2013: Gustavus, which went 24-0-1 during the regular season a year ago—including a perfect 18-0-0 run through the conference schedule—had its high-octane offense running in high gear, handing Saint Mary's a season-opening 8-2 nonconference setback at Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap
• January 24, 2014: Saint Mary's did something no other MIAC team has been able to do against seventh-ranked Gustavus all season—score more two goals. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their three goals came up one goal short, as Gustavus broke a 3-3 tie four minutes into the third period on a power play goal by Carolyn Draayer to lift GAC to a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• January 25, 2014: A day after dropping a heart-breaking 4-3 loss to Gustavus, the Cardinal got another shot at the high-powered and nationally ranked Gusties. But this time around, Gustavus left little doubt, scoring three second-period goals en route to conference win No. 30 in a row—a 5-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Saint Mary's at Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Gusties head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for Game 2 of their conference series. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Friday's game against sixth-ranked Gustavus marks the Cardinals' sixth game against nationally ranked teams this season—Adrian was ranked No. 7 when the Cardinals faced them on Jan. 9; UW-Superior was ranked No. 9 in the USCHO.com Top 10 when the teams met on Nov. 7-8; and St. Thomas headed into the teams' conference openers on Nov. 14-15 ranked No. 8. … With their back-to-back one-goal wins over Bethel last weekend, the Cardinals have improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games. … The Cardinals' two wins over Bethel marked their third two-game sweep of the season—Saint Mary's beat UW-Eau Claire 4-1 twice on Jan. 2-3, and swept Saint Benedict 3-2 and 2-0 on Nov. 21-22. … With their 1-0 win over Bethel at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena last Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 4-0-1 in their last five home games against the Royals—with all five being decided by one goal or less. … Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) and Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) netted the Cardinals' two goals vs. Bethel last Friday, while Lindsay Paschke (New Prague, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' goal in last Saturday's 1-0 win over the Royals. … Henderson's goal was her team-leading fifth of the season—one more than Paschke and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.). … Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) owns a team-high seven assists and shares the team lead in points (8) with fellow senior Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.). … The Cardinals boast three players who have recorded multiple-goal games this season—Henderson, Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Molly Abraham (Plymouth, Minn.). Fadness posted her first collegiate two-goal game in Saint Mary's 3-2 OT win over St. Catherine on Dec. 6, while Abraham recorded her first two-goal game as a Cardinal in Saint Mary's 3-2 win over Saint Benedict on Nov. 21, and Henderson—who scored her first collegiate goal in the Cardinals' 5-2 nonconference loss to St. Norbert on Nov. 29—recorded her multiple-goal game against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 2. … Peterson dished out four assists in the Cardinals' two-game sweep of UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 2-3—including a career-high three assists in their Jan. 3, 4-1 victory. … The Cardinals have four players who have netted their first collegiate goal this season—Henderson, Abraham, Mandy Sailor (Ramsey, Minn.) and Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill.). … The Cardinals' four goals in both 4-1 wins over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 2-3 were a season high. … Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.) made 41 saves in two wins against Bethel last weekend. … Herrmann notched her second shutout of the season—and third of her collegiate career—with 24 saves vs. Bethel last Saturday. … Herrmann's other shutout this season was a 43-save effort in a 0-0 tie against St. Thomas on Nov. 15. … 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 enters this weekend's games against nationally ranked Gustavus owning a team-leading 1.59 goals-against-average and a .939 save percentage. … Marah Shields' (Milford, Mich.) 35 saves vs. Adrian last Saturday were one shy of her career-high 36-save efforts against St. Norbert—this year on Nov. 29, and last year on Jan. 15. … Shields—owner of a 2.45 GAA and .917 save percentage—picked up her first collegiate shutout on Nov. 22, stopping all 19 shots in the Cardinals' 2-0 victory over Saint Benedict. … The Cardinals' tie against Lake Forest on Jan. 9 was their fourth overtime game of the season—Saint Mary's is 1-1-2 in those four games. … Saint Mary's tie vs. 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. … Saint Mary's Dec. 6 3-2 OT victory over St. Catherine snapped its five-game overtime winless streak (0-1-4). The Cardinals' last OT win was a 3-2 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 4, 2012.
 
Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Gusties come into the weekend series against Saint Mary's ranked No. 6 in the latest USCHO.com Top 10. … With their sweep of Augsburg last weekend, Gustavus enters this weekend's games against Saint Mary's riding a three-game winning streak. … Both of Gustavus' losses this season have come at the hands of nationally ranked teams, and have both been by one goal—GAC dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to fourth-ranked Middlebury, while also falling to then-No. 5 Adrian 1-0. … The Gusties' 1-0 loss to Adrian marked the first time since March 8, 2014 that they have been held without at least one goal. … Carolyn Draayer had two goals and an assist, and A Eder-Zdechlik added a goal and two assists to pace GAC in its 5-0 win over Augsburg last Friday, while Drayer and Rachel Skoglund netted the Gusties' two goals in Saturday's 2-1 victory. …  Eder-Zdechlik and Draayer share the team lead in goals with eight each. … Erica Power is the team-leader in both assists (10) and points (15). … Power is one of four Gusties with 10 or more points this season—Eder-Zdechlik (13), Draayer (11) and Diana Draayer (11) are the other three. … Carolyn Draayer owns a team-high three power play goals, while Eder-Zdechlik has netted a team-best two shorthanded tallies. … Lindsey Hibbard made 28 saves in two games against the Auggies last weekend—including a 10-save shutout last Friday. … Hibbard has started 13 of the team's 15 games, compiling a 1.26 goals-against-average and a .942 save percentage. … Hibbard's shutout against Augsburg was her third of the season. … GAC has outscored its opponents in every period—including 10-4 in the first period and 23-7 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Gustavus is 7-1-1 when scoring first, while going 4-1-1 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. …  Gustavus has won 12 MIAC titles in the 16 years the league has offered women's hockey. The Gusties have also earned the conference's playoff crown in 10 of the last 11 years.