WINONA, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team hosts Augsburg in the second game of the teams' two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series on Saturday. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-3-2 MIAC | 11-7-2 Overall) vs. Augsburg Auggies (6-5-0 MIAC | 9-11-0 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) stopped all 34 shots and the Cardinals used a three-goal, 88-second outburst in the first period to roll to a 5-0 conference win over Augsburg Friday at the Ed Saugestad Ice Rink in Minneapolis, Minn. | Recap
 
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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back on their home ice next weekend, as Saint Mary's hosts Concordia in a pair of conference games at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Friday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m., with Saturday's rematch set to begin at 2 p.m.
• Augsburg: The Auggies hit the road next Friday, traveling to Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. MIAC game against Hamline. The two teams will then head to the Auggies' Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, for Saturday's 7:05 p.m. rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
With Friday's victory over Augsburg, the Cardinals moved into a tie with Concordia for second place in the conference standings, just two points back of league-leading St. Thomas with five MIAC games to play. … With their 5-0 victory over Augsburg, the Cardinals have now won their last three Friday games by shutout. Saint Mary's blanked Gustavus (3-0) and St. Olaf (3-0) the previous two Fridays. … The Cardinals are now 4-0-2 in conference play on Friday nights and 6-2-2 overall on Fridays. … Saint Mary's has now won three straight and eight of their last nine. … Friday's 5-0 win over the Auggies was the Cardinals' 11th win of the season, one more win than they recorded a year ago and the most since Saint Mary's went 11-13-1 during the 2004-05 season. … 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. … Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) recorded his second multiple-goal game of the season with two goals vs. the Auggies Friday. … Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.), Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa), and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals other three goals vs. Augsburg Friday. … Saint Mary's three first-period goals against Augsburg Friday night came in an 88-second span. … The Cardinals have recorded four hat tricks 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 and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) 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—Cesarz, Wasell, Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), 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). … Gruse—who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game in last Saturday's 5-3 victory over the Oles—heads into Saturday's rematch 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), Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska / 19), Marx (17), Walz (14), Portner (14), Cesarz (13), Albergo (11), Wasell (10) and Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn. / 10)  give the Cardinals nine 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.) posted his third shutout in his last five starts with a 34-save effort against the Auggies on Friday. … Heinle notched his second collegiate shutout with a 31-save performance against St. Olaf on Jan. 30, while notching collegiate shutout No. 1 with a 32-save performance vs. 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 17 of the team's 20 games—enters Saturday's game vs. Augsburg owning a 2.10 goals-against-average and a .936 save percentage, while Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) boasts a 4.00 GAA and an .852 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. … 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 9-2-2 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 31-19 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
With Friday's loss to Saint Mary's, Augsburg slips to 1-3 in its last four games. … 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 Saturday's game 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 14 of the team's 20 games in goal, compiling a 2.95 goals-against-average and an .894 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 have been outscored 22-18 in the second and 22-20 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.