ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team hits the road on Friday, as the Cardinals head to Oscar Johnson Arena for a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Hamline
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-6-2 MIAC | 10-10-2 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (3-11-2 MIAC | 5-16-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals came up empty in their two games at Concordia last weekend in Moorhead, Minn., falling to the Cobbers 3-2 on Friday, before dropping a 2-0 decision in the teams' rematch on Saturday | CC Recap 1 * CC Recap 2
• Hamline: The Pipers battled to a split against Augsburg last weekend, falling 5-2 at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis on Friday, before rebounding with a 5-4 victory a day later at Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn. | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—A Year Ago:
• February 22, 2014: Saint Mary's got its final weekend off to a roaring start, as the Cardinals got a pair of second-period goals and held off Hamline's third-period rally to beat the Pipers 2-1 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at the Warner Coliseum in St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
• February 23, 2014: The Cardinals erupted for five goals in the game's final two periods—including four in the third period alone—en route to a 5-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory in the teams' regular-season finale at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Pipers head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for the second game of their two-game conference series. Saint Mary's will honor its three graduating seniors prior to the 2 p.m. opening faceoff.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Cardinals locked up their first MIAC Playoff berth since the 2009-2010 season, and head into the final two games of the regular season sitting in fourth place, three points back of third-place Concordia and one point in front of Bethel. … The Cardinals' 2-0 win over Augsburg on Feb. 5 was their 10th of the season—Saint Mary's highest win total since going 11-11-3 during the 2010-11 season. … Friday's 3-2 loss to Concordia snapped the Cardinals' four-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1). … Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) and Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) each picked up a goal and an assist against the Cobbers last Friday. … Lien has now scored in two of the Cardinals' last three games, having netted one of Saint Mary's two goals in their 2-0 win over Augsburg on Feb. 6. … Peterson and Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) share the team lead in goals with six, one more than Lien and two in front of Lindsay Paschke (New Prague, Minn.) and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.). … Peterson also owns the team lead in assists (9) and points (15). … Peterson finished with three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in the Cardinals' 4-2 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 30, marking the second time this season the senior forward has notched three or more points in a game—she recorded four points (1 goal, 3 assists) vs. UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 3. … Peterson has notched three or more points in a game five times in her collegiate career. … Peterson's three assists in Saint Mary's 4-1 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 3 were a career high. … Peterson became the fourth Cardinal to record a multiple-goal game this season with her two goals vs. St. Olaf on Jan. 30—Henderson, Fadness, and Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.) are the other three. Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) 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. … 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 have scored a season-high four goals in a game three times—beating St. Olaf 4-2 on Jan. 30, while topping UW-Eau Claire 4-1 in both of their nonconference games on Jan. 2-3. … Saint Mary's 2-0 win over Augsburg on Feb. 6 was the Cardinals' fourth shutout of the season, marking the second straight year in which Saint Mary's has notched four shutouts in a season. … Marah Shields (Milford, Mich.)—who made 31 saves against Augsburg on Feb. 6 en route to her second collegiate shutout—finished with 33 saves vs. the Cobbers last Friday, while Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.) collected 16 saves vs. Concordia the following day. … Shields—owner of a 2.24 GAA and .929 save percentage—picked up her first collegiate shutout on Nov. 22, stopping all 19 shots in the Cardinals' 2-0 victory over Saint Benedict. … Herrmann notched her second shutout of the season—and third of her collegiate career—with 23 saves vs. Bethel on Jan. 17. 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 Friday's game against Hamline owning a team-leading 1.72 goals-against-average and a .932 save percentage. … The Cardinals have played six overtime games this season—going 2-1-3 . … Saint Mary's tie vs. St. Thomas on Nov. 15 marked the second time in the last three seasons that the Cardinals have played to a 0-0 tie. Saint Mary's and Concordia battled to a 0-0 stalemate on Feb. 15, 2013. … The Cardinals boast four two-game series sweeps this season—the most since the 2003-04 season. The Cardinals have swept St. Olaf (4-2, 3-2), Bethel (2-1, 1-0), UW-Eau Claire (4-1, 4-1), and Saint Benedict (3-2, 2-0). … Seven of the Cardinals' last nine games have been decided by one goal—last Friday's 3-2 loss to Concordia; a 1-1 tie vs. Augsburg; a 3-2 victory over St. Olaf; 2-1 and 1-0 wins over Bethel; and 3-2 and 1-0 losses to Gustavus. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 14-10 in the first period and 17-15 in the third, but the Cardinals have been outscored 20-10 in the game's middle period. … The Cardinals are 8-3-1 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 2-6-1 when their opponent scores first. … The Cardinals have played seven games against nationally ranked teams this season—Gustavus was ranked No. 6 heading into their MIAC showdown with Saint Mary's on Jan. 23-24; 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.
 
Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
With their win over Augsburg Saturday, the Pipers are now 2-1 in their last three games. … The Pipers are 2-6-1 in their last nine games. … After not winning a game in their first nine home games, Hamline has won two in a row at Oscar Johnson. …Three of Hamline's five wins have come on the road—the Pipers are 2-7-2 at home and 3-9-0 away from Oscar Johnson Arena.
Kelsey Rafferty recorded Hamline's first hat trick in six years with her three goals against Augsburg last Saturday. HU's last hat trick—from Alli Miller in 2009—also came against Augsburg. … Jordan Verleye enters Friday's game against Saint Mary's having recorded a team-leading 18 points, one more than Chelsea Koehn. … Verley and Koehn are two of four Pipers with 10 or more points through 23 games—Rafferty (15) and Jaci Reinke (11) are the other two. … Rafferty's hat trick vs. Augsburg gives her a team-leading 10 goals, one more than Verleye. … Verley, Koehn and Jenny Magill all share the team lead in assists with nine each. … Verley owns a team-high two game-winning goals. … Along with Rafferty's three-goal effort vs. Augsburg last Saturday, the Pipers have gotten two-goal games from Verleye, Koehn (twice) and Megan Lawry. … Hamline scored a team-high seven goals in its 7-1 win over Stevenson on Dec. 27. … Mary Shefveland has started 12 games in goal for HU, posting a 3.43 goals-against-average and an .891 save percentage. … Katie Beckman has made eight starts in goal, owning a 2.70 GAA and .912 save percentage, while Jessica Cole has started the other three Piper games, recording a 4.00 GAA and .883 save percentage. … Shefveland has made a team-high 327 saves and owns the team's lone shutout—a 29-save effort in HU's 4-0 win over Saint Benedict on Feb. 6. … Hamline has been outscored 76-47 this season—including 32-17 in the game's middle period. … Hamline has played four overtime games this season, going 1-1-2—the Pipers beat St. Olaf (3-2), lost to Saint Benedict (3-2), and tied St. Olaf (4-4) and St. Catherine (1-1). … HU is 4-3-1 when scoring first, but the Pipers are just 1-13-1 when their opponent scores first.