MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team kicks off its two-game conference series against Augsburg on the road on Friday, as the Cardinals head to Ed Saugestad Rink for a 7:05 p.m. conference showdown with Augsburg
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-3-2 MIAC | 10-7-2 Overall) at Augsburg Auggies (6-3-0 MIAC | 9-8-0 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals picked up a pair of key conference wins over St. Olaf last weekend. Saint Mary's rode the shutout goaltending of Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) in a 3-0 win over the Oles Friday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, before getting a hat trick from Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) in Saturday's 4-3 win in Northfield, Minn. | St. Olaf Recap 1 * St. Olaf Recap 2
• Augsburg: The Auggies battled St. Thomas to a conference split in their conference series last weekend. St. Thomas cruised to a 5-0 victory in last Friday's series opener in Mendota Heights, Minn., while the Auggies got three goals from Nate Flynn—including the game-winner midway through the third period—in a 4-3 Augsburg victory Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn. | UST Recap 1 * UST Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—Earlier This Year:
• October 31, 2014: Augsburg scored a pair of first-period goals and the Cardinals could not get their offense on track, as the Auggies dealt Saint Mary's a season-opening 2-0 nonconference setback at Ramsey County Arena in the Schwan's Super Rink during the opening day of the MIAC Hockey Showcase in Blaine, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—A Year Ago:
• November 1, 2013: Augsburg rode a three-goal second period to a season-opening 6-2 nonconference victory over the Cardinals during the MIAC Hockey Showcase at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, Minn. | Recap
• February 7, 2014: Dylan Dock (River Falls, Minn.) got Saint Mary's on the board first for the first time since Jan. 11 against Milwaukee School of Engineering—and gave the Cardinals their first, first-period lead since Jan. 17 against Bethel—with his fourth goal of the season at 16:27 of the opening stanza. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, that late, first-period goal would be all the offense Saint Mary's could muster, as Augsburg rattled off three unanswered goals in handing Saint Mary's a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• February 8, 2014: The Cardinals scored three unanswered goals and held off a late Augsburg rally in handing the Auggies a 5-4 conference setback at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn. | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Auggies head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for the second game of the teams' two-game conference series. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
With their 3-0, 5-3 sweep of St. Olaf, the Cardinals jumped into third place in the MIAC standings, just two points back of league-leading St. Thomas and Concordia. … Saturday's 5-3 victory over St. Olaf was the Cardinals' 10th win of the season, equaling their win total of a year ago—and marking the most wins since the Cardinals went 11-13-1 during the 2004-05 season. … The Cardinals' 5-3 win over St. Olaf snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Oles in Northfield, Minn.—Saint Mary's last win at the Northfield Ice Arena came on Feb. 17, 2006, when the Cardinals beat the Oles 3-2. … Last Friday's win over St. Olaf marked the second straight Friday night that Saint Mary's has posted a 3-0 victory—the Cardinals blanked Gustavus 3-0 on Jan. 23. … With their win Friday, Saint Mary's improved to 6-1-0 in its last seven games. … With their 3-0 win last Friday, the Cardinals are now 3-0-2 in conference play on Friday nights and are 5-2-2 overall on Fridays. … The Cardinals head into this weekend's games against Augsburg having won seven of their last eight. … 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. … Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) accounted for three of Saint Mary's five goals—including two in the game's final 40 seconds—in Saturday's 4-3 victory over St. Olaf. … Cesarz's hat trick was the first of his collegiate career and the second time this season the freshman has posted a multiple-goal game— Cesarz recorded his first collegiate two-goal game against Northland on Jan. 10. … Cesarz became the fourth Cardinal to score a hat trick this season—the most in program history over the past two decades. Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) netted three goals against St. Scholastica and four vs. Bethel, while Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) notched his first collegiate three-goal game vs. Northland on Jan. 10. … Gruse's four-goal effort vs. Bethel was the Cardinals' first since Mike Glaesmer netted four against Hamline on Dec. 6, 2008. … Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) and Portner also scored for the Cardinals on Saturday, while Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), and Gruse accounted for the Cardinals' three goals against St. Olaf Friday. … Johnson's goal was his first as a Cardinal. … The Cardinals boast 13 players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Cesarz, Portner, Walz, Johnson, Connor Langfield (Rosemount, Minn.), Cole Pierce (Grand Ledge, Mich.), Joey Van Antwerp (Farmington Hills, Ill.), 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—his second multiple-goal game of the season—while Gruse scored four of the team's five goals in Saint Mary's Jan. 17 victory. … Gruse—who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game in Saturday's 5-3 victory over the Oles—heads into this weekend's games against Augsburg as the team-leader in goals (15), assists (14), and points (29). … Gruse's 15 goals are the most by a Cardinal since the 2007-08 season, when Mike Glaesmer scored 15 goals, while his 29 points are the most since  Lenny Hoffmann recorded 33 points during the 2003-04 season. … Gruse's 15 goals and 29 points rank No. 1 in the MIAC and No. 5 in all of NCAA Division III. … Gruse (29), McGlasson (18), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa / 16), Cesarz (13), Walz (12), and Portner (12) 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 66 goals have come from 18 different players, while 22 Cardinals have notched at least one point. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.)—who stopped 75 of the 77 shots he faced against Gustavus on Jan. 23-24 en route to his second MIAC Athlete of the Week honor—posted a pair of 31-save efforts against St. Olaf last weekend. … Heinle notched his second collegiate shutout with last Friday's 31-save performance. … Heinle stopped all 32 shots he faced against on Jan. 23 for his first collegiate shutout. … Heinle, who has made 30 or more saves nine 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 16 of the team's 19 games—enters this weekend's games vs. Augsburg owning a 2.23 goals-against-average and a .932 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 8-2-2 when scoring the game's first goal, while going just 2-5-0 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents in all three periods—including 30-19 in the game's final 20 minutes. … The Cardinals have 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' 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Augsburg's 4-3 win over St. Thomas last Saturday snapped the Auggies' two-game losing streak. … With the victory over the Tommies, the Auggies have now scored four or more goals in each of their last four wins—and in seven of their nine wins on the season. … On the flip side, Augsburg has been held to two goals or less in eight of its 10 losses—including its last six losses. … Augsburg snapped a seven-game losing streak vs. St. Thomas last Saturday—the Auggies' last win over the Tommies was a 4-3 home win on Feb. 17, 2012. … Nate Flynn recorded his first collegiate hat trick to account for three of the Auggies' four goals in their 4-3 win over St. Thomas last Saturday. … Mack Ohnsted heads into this weekend's games against Saint Mary's as the team-leader in goals (10) and points (20), while Ben McClellan owns a team-best 11 assists—one more than Ohnsted and Corbin Chapman. … Led by Ohnsted's 20 points, the Auggies boast eight players with 10 or more points—McClellan (15), Chapman (14), Drew Anderson (13), Dylan Meier (12), Zach Dick (11), Lucas Hendrickson (10) and Evan Hesse (10) are the others. … Ohnsted (3) and Meier (2) have accounted for five of the team's nine game-winning goals. … Augsburg's 55 goals have come from 15 different players, while 19 Auggies have notched at least one point. … Fredrik Melander has started 13 of the team's 19 games in goal, compiling a 2.94 goals-against-average and an .895 save percentage, while John Bretzman boasts a 2.96 GAA and .864 save percentage in six starts. … Melander has recorded a team-high 316 saves and owns the team's lone shutout—a 20-save effort in the Auggies' season-opening 2-0 win over Saint Mary's on Oct. 31. … The Auggies hold a 16-15 scoring edge in the first period, but Augsburg has been outscored 21-18 in the second and 21-20 in the third. … Augsburg has played two overtime games this season—falling to UW-River Falls 4-3 on Nov. 25, and beating Saint John's 6-5 on Dec. 5. … Augsburg has scored first in seven of its nine wins. The Auggies are just 2-8-0 in games in which their opponent has scored first. … Nine of Augsburg's 19 games have come against teams that have been ranked in the USCHO.com Poll.