WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team kicks off its two-game conference series against St. Olaf at home on Friday, as the Cardinals entertain the Oles in a 7 p.m. MIAC showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-3-2 MIAC | 8-7-2 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (4-5-1 MIAC | 6-11-2 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals split their two-game MIAC series with Gustavus last weekend—Saint Mary's rode a pair of first-period goals and the shutout goaltending of Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) to a 3-0 victory on Friday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, while the Gusties earned the conference split, scoring the game-winning goal with nine seconds remaining in overtime for a 3-2 win on Saturday at the Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter, Minn. | GAC Recap 1 * GAC Recap 2
• St. Olaf: The Oles picked up a pair of conference wins last weekend, sweeping past Bethel. St. Olaf slipped past the Royals 2-1 last Friday in Northfield, Minn., before completing the sweep with a 4-1 victory a day later in Blaine, Minn. | BU Recap 1 * BU Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—A Year Ago:
• November 3, 2013: The Cardinals scored a pair of third-period power play goals, while killing off six of seven St. Olaf man advantages, as Saint Mary's picked up its first win of the season, a 3-2 victory over the Oles in the MIAC Hockey Showcase at Fogerty Arena. | Recap
• January 31, 2014: Saint Mary's offense remained in its mid-season deep-freeze, as the Cardinals mustered just a single goal for the third straight game in falling to St. Olaf 5-1 at the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn. | Recap
• February 1, 2014: For the sixth straight game, the Cardinals surrendered a goal in the game's opening minutes—and found themselves staring at a deficit following the first 20 minutes of play. St. Olaf scored on its first shot of the game four minutes in, then rattled off four unanswered goals to end the game, as the Oles handed Saint Mary's a 7-2 setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena to complete their two-game conference sweep | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Oles hit the road on Saturday, traveling to the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn., for the second game of their two-game conference series.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss to Gustavus snapped the Cardinals' season-high five-game winning streak. … The five consecutive wins were not only a season high, but also the longest winning streak since late in the 2005-06 season, when they put together a six-game winning streak. … The Cardinals have now played four overtime games, going to a shootout vs. both St. Thomas and Saint John's, while dropping 2-1 and 3-2 OT decisions to Gustavus and nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point, respectively. … The Cardinals have scored 24 goals during their last six games—including four straight five-goal efforts. … All three of the Cardinals' goals against Gustavus last Friday came from defensemen—Joey Van Antwerp (Farmington Hills, Ill.), Cole Pierce (Grand Ledge, Mich.) and Connor Langfield (Rosemount, Minn.)—while Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) accounted for Saint Mary's second-period tally in last Saturday's 2-1 loss. … The goals by Pierce and Langfield were the first of their collegiate careers. … The Cardinals boast 12 players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Langfield, Pierce, Van Antwerp, Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.), Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), Michael Cimba (Wilmette, Ill.), Kyle Blondin (Kent, Wash.), Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.), Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.), and Jude Warner (Pickerington, Ohio). … The Cardinals boasted a multiple-goal scorer in each of their games against Bethel on Jan. 16-17. Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) scored twice against the Royals on Jan. 16, while Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored four of the team's five goals in Saint Mary's Jan. 17 victory. … Gruse's four-goal effort was the Cardinals' first since Mike Glaesmer netted four against Hamline on Dec. 6, 2008. … Gruse has had at least one point in four of the Cardinals' last six games, and has amassed 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists) in the last eight contests. … McGlasson's two-goal game against Bethel was his second multiple-goal game of the season—the senior also netted a pair of goals against Concordia on Nov. 2. … Saint Mary's has now recorded three hat tricks this season. Gruse netted three against St. Scholastica and four vs. Bethel, while Portner notched his first collegiate three-goal game vs. Northland on Jan. 10. … Cesarz had a goal in both games vs. Bethel last weekend and has now scored four goals in the Cardinals' last five games. … Cesarz recorded his first collegiate two-goal game against Northland on Jan. 10. … Gruse heads into this weekend's games against St. Olaf as the team-leader in goals (14) and points (25)—the most by a Cardinal since the 2007-08 season, when Mike Glaesmer scored 15 goals and Anthony Bohn had 26 assists. … Gruse's 14 goals and 25 points rank No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 4 in all of NCAA Division III. … Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) shares the team lead in assists (11) with Gruse. … Gruse (25), McGlasson (16), Marx (15), Walz (11), Cesarz (10) and Portner (10) give the Cardinals six players with 10 or more points this season. … The Cardinals' 11 goals in their 11-2 rout of Aurora on Dec. 6 were a season high—and the most scored in a game since Saint Mary's netted 14 in a 14-3 rout of Concordia during the 2007-08 season. … Saint Mary's 11 goals vs. Aurora on Dec. 6 came from eight different players. … Saint Mary's 58 goals have come from 17 different players, while 22 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) stopped 75 of the 77 shots he faced against Gustavus last weekend. … Heinle stopped all 32 shots he faced against Gustavus last Friday for his first collegiate shutout, before adding a season-high 43 saves vs. the Gusties a day later. … Heinle, who has made 30 or more saves seven times this season, recorded a career-high 51 saves against Saint John's on Nov. 21. … Heinle's 51 saves are the most by a Cardinal goalie since Jason Horstman stopped 52 shots against Gustavus on Feb. 19, 2011. … Heinle—who has started 14 of the team's 17 games—enters this weekend's games vs. St. Olaf owning a 2.33 goals-against-average and a .928 save percentage, while Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) boasts a 4.00 GAA and an .852 save percentage … The Cardinals have scored 25 of their 57 goals in the third period. … The Cardinals' 1-0 win in the shootout vs. St. Thomas on Nov. 8 was their first shootout in the two years since the MIAC added it to the end of tied games prior to the 2013-14 season. … Saint Mary's 4-0 loss to MSOE on Jan. 5 marked just the second time this season they have failed to net at least one goal—the Cardinals were blanked by Augsburg 2-0 in their season-opener against Augsburg on Oct. 31. … The Cardinals are 6-1-2 when scoring the game's first goal, while going just 2-6-0 when their opponent scores first. … The Cardinals' 1-1 showing at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase marked the third straight season Saint Mary's has gone 1-1 at the conference's season-opening event. Saint Mary's lost to Augsburg (6-2) and beat St. Olaf (3-2), while topping Bethel (7-2) and falling to Saint John's (8-1) in 2012-13. … Saint Mary's season-opening 2-0 loss to Augsburg on Oct. 31 actually snapped its three-game winning streak—the Cardinals had closed out the 2013-14 season with a 5-2 win over Concordia and 6-5 and 8-3 victories over Hamline.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
St. Olaf's 2-1 win over Bethel last Friday snapped their two-game losing streak. … After dropping their first three games of the season—and six of their first seven—St. Olaf is 5-4-2 in its last 11 contests. … Four of the Oles' six wins this season have been by one goal—including three 2-1 victories. … The Oles have held their opponent to one goal in each of their last three wins—a 2-1 victory over Finlandia on Jan. 10, and last weekend's 2-1, 4-1 wins over Bethel. … Drew Otto and Matt Geurts scored St. Olaf's two goals in last Friday's 2-1 win, while Mark Rath netted a pair of goals and Geurts and Peter Lindblad accounted for the other two. … Geurts, Lindblad and Steven Sherman share the team lead with five goals each, while Sherman also owns team highs of nine assists and 14 points. … Sherman is one of three Oles with 10 or more points through 19 games—Geurts (11) and Nick Marsh (10) are the other two. … St. Olaf's 38 goals have been scored by 15 different players, while 19 Oles have recorded at least one point this season. … Steve Papciak has played 17 of the Oles' 19 games in goal, compiling a 2.58 goals-against-average and a .913 save percentage. … Papciak has stopped 464 of the 508 shots he's faced. … St. Olaf has been outscored by five goals (30-25) through the game's first two periods, but the Oles have been outscored 24-13 in the game's final 20 minutes. … St. Olaf has played two overtime games this season, with both ending in ties—a 3-3 deadlock against Gustavus on Dec. 5 and a 3-3 stalemate against Northland on Jan. 9. … St. Olaf has scored first in 11 of its 19 games, going 4-5-2. The Oles are 2-6-0 when their opponent scores the game's first goal. … Five of St. Olaf's six wins this season have come at the Northfield Ice Arena. The Oles are just 1-7-1 away from home.