MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team hits the road on Saturday, heading to St. Thomas Ice Arena for the second game of their two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against St. Thomas. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2-1 MIAC | 7-5-2 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (5-2-0 MIAC | 7-5-2 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• The Cardinals got two goals from Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.), the game-winner from Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Wis.), and a 45-save effort from Jake Hebda (Firestone, Colo.) in handing league-leading St. Thomas a 4-3 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—A Year Ago:
• November 8, 2014 * St. Paul, Minn.: Saint Mary's certainly faced a daunting task in its conference-opener, as the Cardinals squared off against three-time defending conference champion St. Thomas at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. And the Cardinals were up to the challenge, batting the high-powered Tommies—the near-unanimous choice by MIAC coaches to win their fourth consecutive regular-season crown— to a 3-3 overtime tie, while also picking up the valuable extra conference point by topping UST 1-0 in the three-person shootout | Recap
• November 9, 2014 * Winona, Minn.: St. Thomas' Michael Dockry broke a 2-2 tie with 6:15 remaining in regulation, as the Tommies dealt Saint Mary's a 3-2 MIAC setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play next weekend, hosting UW-Stevens Point (Friday) and UW-Stout (Saturday) at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies are home for a pair of nonconference games next weekend, entertaining UW-Stout (Friday) and UW-Eau Claire (Saturday) at the St. Thomas Ice Arena.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• With their win over St. Thomas Friday, the Cardinals snapped a season-high three-game losing streak, while also improving to 5-1-0 on their home ice. … Friday's 4-3 victory also snapped a 22-game winless streak (0-19-3) against the Tommies—dating back to a 4-2 win on Dec. 11, 2004. … The Cardinals put together season-high eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) earlier this season—it was the longest since Saint Mary's went 7-0-1 during the 1996-97 season. … With their four goals against St. Thomas, the Cardinals have now scored four goals or more in 10 of their 14 games. … With Friday's four goals, the Cardinals have now scored 65 goals in their first 14 games—ranking No. 1 in all of NCAA Division III. … Saint Mary's 2-0 loss to Concordia on Dec. 5 marked the first time this season the Cardinals have failed to score at least three goals in a game. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored a pair of goals against St. Thomas Friday, while Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) accounted for the other two. … Gruse has now netted three goals in Saint Mary's last two games. … After not scoring a goal in his first year as a Cardinal, Jay Heinle has netted at least one goal in eight of the team's 14 games—and leads the team with 12 goals, three more than Gruse and four in front of Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.). … The Cardinals have recorded three hat tricks this season—Kinne scored three times against Aurora on Nov. 29, while Heinle posted his first collegiate hat trick against Bethel on Nov. 13, and Johnson found the back of the net three times against Bethel on Nov. 14. … Kinne also added an assist against Aurora on Nov. 29 for his second four-point game of the season. … The Cardinals had eight different players record at least two points in the two-game series vs. Aurora on Nov. 28-29—including a team-leading four assists from Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.). … Gruse has recorded at least one point in 11 of the team's 14 games, including 19 in his last nine contests (8 G, 11 A). … Kinne has notched at least one point in nine of 14 games—including 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in Saint Mary's last 10 contests. … Heinle had a pair of assists against St. Thomas Friday and has recorded four points in the Cardinals' last two games. … Saint Mary's has had a player dish out three assists in a game three times—Gruse has done it twice, while Wasell achieved the feat once. … Gruse—who posted the third four-point game of his collegiate career against Bethel on Nov. 13—leads the team in both assists (14) and points (23). … Gruse is one of eight Cardinals with at least 10 points this season—Kinne (19), Heinle (16), Johnson (15), Wasell (14), Cesarz (12), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn. / 12), and Albergo (12) are the others. … Heinle and Landon Farrell (Rochester, Minn.) have each scored their first collegiate goals this season. … Jake Hebda (Firestone, Colo.) stopped a career-high 45 shots—including 20 in the third period—against the Tommies Friday. … Hebda earned his first win in a Cardinal uniform with his 45-save showing in Saint Mary's 4-3 win over UST Friday. … Cardinal goalies have now posted back-to-back 45-save performances—Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) made a season-high 45 saves against MSOE last on Jan. 3. Heinle's 45 saves were six shy of his career high. … Heinle owns a 3.16 goals-against-average and an .802 save percentage, while making a team-high 288 saves in 11 starts this season. … Jake Tugnutt (Peterborough, Ontario) made his first collegiate start in goal against Aurora on Nov. 29, stopping 23 shots to record his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 24-12 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's is 6-0-2 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 1-5-0 in games in which the Cardinals' opponent scores first. … The Cardinals' 10 goals against Bethel in their Nov. 13 10-2 victory were the most since netting 11 against Aurora on Dec. 6, 2014—and the most in a conference game since scoring 14 against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2007. … The Cardinals' combined 19 goals in their sweep of the Royals were the most since scoring 21 in 14-3 and 7-2 victories over Concordia on Dec. 7-8, 2007. … The Cardinals have faced three nationally ranked teams this season, collecting a 4-2 win over 10th-ranked UW-River Falls, battling No. 8 UW-Eau Claire to a 3-3 tie, and falling to No. 15 MSOE 6-4. … The Cardinals—who reached the MIAC Playoffs championship game a year ago, after finishing second in the regular-season standings—were picked to finish second in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. … With their 5-4 loss to Gustavus on Oct. 30, the Cardinals fell to 0-3-0 in their last three season openers. Saint Mary's last season-opening win was a 7-2 victory over Bethel on Oct. 27, 2012.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• Saturday's rematch with Saint Mary's is the first of three straight home games for the Tommies, who play four of their next five contests on their home ice. … Friday's 4-3 loss to Saint Mary's was UST's second straight setback—marking the first time this season the Tommies have lost back-to-back games. … St. Thomas has surrendered four goals in each of its last two games, falling to No. 1-ranked St. Norbert 4-1 on Dec. 12. … After opening the season 4-1-2, UST is 3-4-0 in its last seven contests. … Five of the Tommies' 10 defeats over the last two seasons have come against ranked teams. … Ben Vikich, Nick Nielsen, and Cullen Willox scored St. Thomas' three goals against Saint Mary's Friday. … In the Tommies' last MIAC series—4-2 and 5-3 wins over Hamline—UST's nine goals came from seven different players. … Michael Dockry heads into Saturday's rematch against Saint Mary's with a team-best 10 points. … Dockry shares the team lead in goals (5) with Connor McBride, and assists (5) with McBride and Nick Nielsen. … Dockry, who has scored in two of the Tommies' last three games, has netted a team-high two game-winning goals. … UST's 38 goals have come from 12 different players, while 19 of the 23 players have recorded at least one point. … Joe Morris, who finished with 16 saves against Saint Mary's on Friday, has started all 14 games in goal for the Tommies, compiling a 2.27 goals-against-average and a .920 save percentage. … The Tommies have scored first in five of their 14 games, going 4-1-0. UST is 3-4-2 when its opponent scores first. … UST has played three overtime games this season—all in a span of seven days. The Tommies tied Saint John's (4-4), lost to UW-River Falls (3-2), and tied UW-Superior (1-1). … St. Thomas has outscored its opponents 38-33—including 16-10 in the third period and 14-10 in the second. … St. Thomas has played 10 of its first 14 games on the road or on neutral ice—including their first four of the season. UST is 44-12-4 at home over the previous four seasons, including a 3-1-0 mark this year and an 11-2-2 record last season. … The Tommies' 4-1 loss to St. Norbert on Dec. 12 was just the second game this season that was not decided by two goals or less—UST beat Bethel 5-2 on Nov. 20. … Four of St. Thomas' five losses have been by one goal—UST lost to Saint Mary's 4-3, UW-River Falls 3-2, Bethel 2-1, and Utica 1-0.