WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out the home portion of its 2014-15 regular-season schedule Friday—and honors its four graduating seniors—as the Cardinals entertain Hamline in a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-5-2 MIAC | 12-9-2 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (7-4-3 MIAC | 12-7-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program | Senior Salute
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals earned a split in their conference series against Concordia last weekend at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored twice—including the game-winner 1:25 into overtime—to lift Saint Mary's to a 4-3 victory on Friday, while Concordia erupted for three goals in both the first and second periods and cruised to an 8-3 victory Saturday | CC Recap 1 * CC Recap 2
• Hamline: The Pipers picked up a pair of key conference wins over Augsburg last weekend—beating the Auggies 3-2 at Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, before completing the sweep with a 6-5 OT victory a day later at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn. | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—A Year Ago:
• February 22, 2014: Four of the Cardinals six goals against Hamline came from seniors playing in their final collegiate home game—including the game-tying goal from Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) with 17 seconds remaining in regulation. But a last-second tie was not the ending the Cardinals were hoping for, so Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) gave his senior teammates a little going-away present, scoring with 35 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Saint Mary's to a 6-5 victory over Hamline at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• February 23, 2014: The Cardinals erupted for a season-high eight goals in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch with Hamline at Ken Yackel Arena. Add to that the fact that five of those eight goals came from seniors playing in their final collegiate game, and it's safe to say that the Cardinals' sweep-clinching 8-3 victory over the Pipers was a pretty impressive encore | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Pipers head to Oscar Johnson Arena on Saturday for Game 2 of the teams' two-game conference series. Opening faceoff is slated for 7 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Friday's game against the Pipers is not only the third straight home contest for the Cardinals, but also the final regular-season home game for graduating seniors Mike Wolter (Antigo, Wis.), Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa), and Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.). … The Cardinals head into their final two games of the regular-season tied with Hamline for third place in the conference standings—three points back of co-leaders Concordia and St. Thomas, and one point in front of Saint John's and four points up on Augsburg and Gustavus. … One win vs. the Pipers will lock up the Cardinals' first MIAC Playoff berth since the 2003-04 season. … Last Friday's 4-3 win over Concordia snapped the Cardinals' three-game Friday shutout streak. It did, however, extend Saint Mary's Friday MIAC unbeaten streak to seven (5-0-2). … The Cardinals are now 7-2-2 in Friday games this season. … Saint Mary's heads into this weekend's games against Hamline having won nine of its last 12. … Last Friday's win over Concordia was the Cardinals' 12th win of the season—the most since 2003-04, when Saint Mary's finished 13-11-2. … Friday's 4-3 win over Concordia was the Cardinals' fifth overtime game of the season. Saint Mary's went to a shootout vs. both St. Thomas and Saint John's, while beating Concordia, and dropping 2-1 and 3-2 OT decisions to Gustavus and nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point, respectively. … Saint Mary's 2-1 overtime loss to Gustavus on Jan. 24 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. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored a pair of goals vs. the Cobbers Friday—including the game-winner 1:25 into overtime. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a goal in both games vs. Concordia last weekend, while Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.), and Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' other three goals on the weekend. … With his two goals last weekend, Kinne extended his point-scoring streak to five straight—the junior has posted eight points (3 G, 5 A) during that span. … Gruse—who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game against St. Olaf on Jan. 31—heads into this weekend's games against Hamline as the team-leader in goals (18), assists (15), and points (33). … Gruse's 18 goals are the most by a Cardinal since the 2002-03 season, when Al Schumacher scored 19, while his 33 points are the most since Lenny Hoffmann recorded 33 points during the 2003-04 season. … Gruse's 18 goals and 33 points rank No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 6 in all of NCAA Division III. … Gruse has recorded nine multiple-point games through Saint Mary's first 22 games. … Gruse (33), Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska / 20), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa / 17), Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich. / 16), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn. / 16), Portner (15), Kinne (13), Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn. / 13), Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill. / 12), and Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash. / 11) give the Cardinals 10 players with 10 or more points this season. … The Cardinals have recorded four hat tricks this season, the most in program history over the past two decades. Gruse netted three goals against St. Scholastica and four vs. Bethel, while Portner notched his first collegiate three-goal game vs. Northland on Jan. 10 and Cesarz scored three times vs. St. Olaf on Jan. 31. … Gruse's four-goal effort vs. Bethel was the Cardinals' first since Mike Glaesmer netted four against Hamline on Dec. 6, 2008. … The Cardinals boast 13 players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Johnson, Kinne, Cesarz, Wasell, Portner, Walz, Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.), Connor Langfield (Rosemount, Minn.), Cole Pierce (Grand Ledge, Mich.), Joey Van Antwerp (Farmington Hills, Ill.), Michael Cimba (Wilmette, Ill.), Kyle Blondin (Kent, Wash.), and Jude Warner (Pickerington, Ohio). … 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 82 goals have come from 18 different players, while 22 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) has recorded three shutouts this season—stopping all 34 shots vs. Augsburg on Feb. 6, posting a 31-save performance against St. Olaf on Jan. 30, and tallying a 32-save effort against Gustavus on Jan. 23. … Heinle, who has made 30 or more saves 10 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 20 of the team's 23 games—enters Friday's game against Hamline owning a 2.53 goals-against-average and a .920 save percentage, while Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) boasts a 4.13 GAA and an .841 save percentage … 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. … The Cardinals are 10-3-2 when scoring the game's first goal, while going just 2-6-0 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents in all three periods—including 34-23 in the game's final 20 minutes. … 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 Hamline Pipers:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Hamline enters the final weekend of the regular season having won two straight and three of its last four. … The Pipers' win over Augsburg Saturday marked the second straight conference series that Hamline has posted a 6-5 victory—HU beat Saint John's 6-5 on Feb. 5. … The six goals vs. Saint John's and Augsburg were a season high for the Pipers, who have netted four goals or more seven times. … Saturday's win over Augsburg was the Pipers' sixth overtime game of the season. Hamline is 1-1-4 in those six OT contests. … After winning just three games last season, the Pipers' two wins over Augsburg were their 10th and 11th of the season. … Brandon Zurn, who scored a pair of goals in HU's 6-5 win over Augsburg last Saturday, enters Friday's showdown at Saint Mary's as the team-leader in points with 25. … Zurn is one of two players with 20 or more points—Charlie Adams is the other with 23—while seven Pipers have recorded at least 10 points through Hamline's first 23 games. … Adams owns a team-best 13 goals, two more than Zurn, while Joe Rubbelke joins Zurn as the team leader in assists with 14 each. … Adams has netted a team-high three game-winning goals, while Jaycob McCombs and Kevin Novakovich each own two game-winners. … Hamline has recorded two hat tricks this season—Adams netted four goals against Saint John's on Feb. 6, while Novakovich scored three times vs. Lake Forest on Jan. 9. … John Sellie-Hanson has appeared in 22 of the team's 23 games in goal, compiling a 2.81 goals-against-average and a .916 save percentage. … Sellie-Hanson has made 608 saves and owns three shutouts. … Hamline has outscored its opponents 21-17 in the first period and 28-27 in the third—but the Pipers have been outscored 25-16 in the game's middle period. … Hamline is 8-2-3 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 3-6-1 when its opponent scores first.