NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team hits the road on Friday, traveling to the Northfield Ice Arena for a 7:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Olaf.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-0-0 MIAC | 3-2-1 Overall) at St. Olaf Oles (0-1-1 MIAC | 2-2-2 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals erupted for 19 goals in sweeping Bethel in the teams' MIAC-opening series last weekend. Saint Mary's routed the Royals 10-2 last Friday in Blaine, Minn., before completing the sweep with a 9-1 victory in the rematch at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday | BU Recap 1 * BU Recap 2
• St. Olaf: The Oles stepped out of conference play last weekend, splitting home games against UW-Superior and UW-Stout. St. Olaf beat UW-Superior 4-3 Friday, before falling to UW-Stout 4-1 on Saturday  | Superior Recap * Stout Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—A Year Ago:
• January 30, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) recorded his second shutout in his last three starts—the first coming a week ago in a 3-0 victory over Gustavus—as the Cardinals opened their two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against St. Olaf with a 3-0 win at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• January 31, 2015 * Northfield, Minn.: Thanks to three goals from Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.)—including back-to-back goals in the game's final 40 seconds—the Cardinals snapped an eight-year losing streak at Northfield Arena and completed a two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of St. Olaf with a 5-3 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Oles are back on the ice on Saturday, as Saint Mary's hosts St. Olaf in the second game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• With their sweep of Bethel last weekend, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to three straight—and their unbeaten string to four in a row (3-0-1). … Saint Mary's four-game unbeaten streak includes a sweep of Bethel and a win and a tie against two teams that were nationally ranked at the time—No. 8 UW-Eau Claire (T, 3-3) and No. 10 UW-River Falls (W, 4-2). … The Cardinals' 10 goals against Bethel in last Friday's 10-2 victory were the most since netting 11 against Aurora on Dec. 6, 2014—and the most in a conference game since scoring 14 against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2007. … Saint Mary's has scored 35 goals in its first six games (3.85 gpg)—ranking No. 1 in all of NCAA Division III. … The Cardinals' combined 19 goals in last weekend's sweep of the Royals were the most since scoring 21 in 14-3 and 7-2 victories over Concordia on Dec. 7-8, 2007. … Saint Mary's had a player score three goals in both games vs. Bethel last weekend—Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) recorded his first collegiate hat trick in Friday's 10-2 win, while Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) posted his first three-goal game in a Cardinal uniform in last Saturday's 9-1 victory. … Johnson also picked up an assist in Saturday's win en route to the first four-point game of his collegiate career. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) each had four points in the Cardinals' 10-2 win over the Royals last Friday. It was the third time Gruse has posted four points in a game—including the second against Bethel—while Kinne's was a collegiate first. … Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.) picked up three assists in Saturday's 9-1 win—it was the first three-assist game of his collegiate career. … Gruse finished the weekend vs. Bethel with a team-high seven points (2 G, 5 A), one more than Kinne (3 G, 3 A) and two in front of Johnson (3 G, 2 A). … Ten different players scored at least one goal for the Cardinals vs. the Royals last weekend, while 16 Cardinals recorded at least one point. … With his efforts against Bethel, Gruse has now recorded at least one point in all six Cardinal games this season. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) was held without a goal vs. Bethel last Saturday, snapping his team-high four-game goal-scoring streak. … After not scoring a goal during his freshman season a year ago, Heinle boasts a team-leading six goals this season. … With his five assist and seven points last weekend, Gruse—a Second-Team All-American last season—now leads the team in assists (8) and points (11). … Johnson is second to Heinle in goals (4), and is tied with Kinne and Wasell for second in assists with five each. … Heinle and Landon Farrell (Rochester, Minn.) have each scored their first collegiate goals this season. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) made 51 saves against the Royals last weekend, giving the junior 126 saves in five starts this season … Heinle owns a 2.56 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage in this season. … Eleven of the 21 goals the Cardinals have allowed this season have been on the power play. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 15-3 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's is 2-0-1 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 1-2-0 in games in which the Cardinals' opponent scores first. … The Cardinals—who reached the MIAC Playoffs championship game a year ago, after finishing second in the regular-season standings—were picked to finish second in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … With their 5-4 loss to Gustavus on Oct. 30, the Cardinals fell to 0-3-0 in their last three season openers. Saint Mary's last season-opening win was a 7-2 victory over Bethel on Oct. 27, 2012.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• After opening the season on a three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2), the Oles have dropped two of their last three contests—sandwiching last Friday's 4-3 win between a 5-2 loss to Hamline and last Saturday's 4-1 setback vs. UW-Stout. … The Oles have scored a season-high five goals twice—each time resulting in a 5-5 tie. … St. Olaf has allowed three or more goals in five of its six games this season—including a season-high five three times. … Peter Lindblad scored twice, and Jonas Fredricksoson and David Rath each scored once, in last Friday's 4-3 win over UW-Superior, while Gordon Wells accounted for the Oles' lone goal in their 4-1 loss to UW-Stout a day later. … Drew Otto heads into this weekend's showdown with Saint Mary's with a team-leading nine points. … Otto and Lindblad share the team lead in goals with five each, while Steven Sherman is the team's assist leader with six and is second to Otto in points with eight. … Lindblad has scored the game-winning goal in both of the Oles' victories this season. … St. Olaf has started three different goalies this season. Luke Andruiuk owns a 3.67 goals-against-average and a .904 save percentage in four starts, while Robert MacDonald (3.04 GAA, .900 save percentage) and Jude Hull (4.62 GAA, .884 save percentage) have each made one start. … St. Olaf has been outscored 7-5 in the first period and 9-7 in the third, but the Oles hold a 9-8 scoring advantage in the game's middle period. … St. Olaf has not won when scoring the game's first goal—the Oles are 0-1-1 when scoring first, and 2-1-1 when their opponent gets on the board first.