ST. PAUL, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out its 2014-15 regular-season schedule on Saturday, heading to Oscar Johnson Arena for a 7 p.m. conference showdown with Hamline.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-5-2 MIAC | 13-9-2 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (7-5-3 MIAC | 12-8-4 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) scored with just over two minutes remaining in overtime to lift the Cardinals to a 4-3 MIAC win over Hamline—and clinch Saint Mary's first conference playoff appearance since the 2003-04 season | Recap
 
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:
• Both the Cardinals and Pipers have locked up post-season playoff berths, with seedings, opponents and dates to be decided following today's regular-season finale.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Friday's game against the Pipers was 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 locked up their first MIAC Playoff appearance since the 2003-04 season with Friday's OT win over Hamline. A win or tie in Saturday's rematch with Hamline, and Saint Mary's will earn the No. 2 seed in the five-team conference playoffs—and a home semifinal game next Saturday—while a loss would drop them to the fourth seed and a home opening-round game against the fifth seed on Thursday. … With their win over Hamline Friday, the Cardinals improved to 6-0-2 in conference play on Friday nights. The Cardinals are now 8-2-2 overall in Friday games this season. … The Cardinals' last two Friday games have both been 4-3 overtime victories. … Saint Mary's heads into Saturday's game against Hamline having won 10 of its last 13. … Friday's win over Hamline was the Cardinals' 13th win of the season—the most since 2003-04, when Saint Mary's finished 13-11-2. … Friday's 4-3 win over Hamline was the Cardinals' sixth overtime game of the season. Saint Mary's went to a shootout vs. both St. Thomas and Saint John's, while beating Hamline and 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. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate three-assist game against Hamline on Friday. The Cardinal sophomore has now recorded at least one point in six straight games—owning 11 points (3 G, 8 A) during that stretch. … Along with Cesarz's OT game-winner, Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.), Jack Strusz (Red Wing, Minn.), and Cole Pierce (Grand Ledge, Mich.) also scored vs. the Pipers Friday. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.)—who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game against St. Olaf on Jan. 31—heads into Saturday's game against Hamline as the team-leader in goals (18), assists (16), and points (34). … Gruse's 18 goals are the most by a Cardinal since the 2002-03 season, when Al Schumacher scored 19, while his 34 points are the most since Jason Sato recorded 35 points during the 1998-99 season. … Gruse's 18 goals and 34 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), McGlasson (20), Marx (17), Cesarz (17), Portner (17), Kinne (16), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn. / 16), Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn. / 15), Nick 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 14 players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Strusz, Kinne, Cesarz, Wasell, Portner, Walz, Pierce, Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.), Connor Langfield (Rosemount, Minn.), 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 21 of the team's 24 games—enters Saturday's game against Hamline owning a 2.55 goals-against-average and a .919 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 35-24 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
Friday's loss to Saint Mary's snapped the Pipers' two-game winning streak. Hamline has won three of its last five. … The Pipers' win over Augsburg last 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. … Friday's loss to Saint Mary's was the Pipers' seventh overtime game of the season. Hamline is 1-2-4 in those seven OT contests. … After winning just three games last season, the Pipers' two wins over Augsburg were their 10th and 11th of the season. … Garrett Schmitz, Charlie Adams and Joe Rubbelke scored the Pipers' three goals vs. Saint Mary's Friday. … Brandon Zurn, who scored a pair of goals in HU's 6-5 win over Augsburg last Saturday, enters Saturday's rematch with Saint Mary's as the team-leader in points with 26. … Zurn is one of two players with 20 or more points—Adams is the other with 24—while seven Pipers have recorded at least 10 points through Hamline's first 24 games. … Adams owns a team-best 14 goals, three more than Zurn, while Rubbelke joins Zurn as the team leader in assists with 15 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 23 of the team's 24 games in goal, compiling a 2.87 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage. … Sellie-Hanson has made 637 saves—including 29 vs. Saint Mary's Friday—and owns three shutouts. … Hamline has outscored its opponents 22-18 in the first period and 29-28 in the third—but the Pipers have been outscored 26-17 in the game's middle period. … Hamline is 8-3-3 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 3-6-1 when its opponent scores first.