WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, hosting St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-2-1 MIAC | 6-5-2 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (5-1-0 MIAC | 7-4-2 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals rallied from a two-goal deficit with a three-goal second period, but then surrendered four third-period goals in falling to Milwaukee School of Engineering 6-4 in a nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena last Sunday | Recap
• St. Thomas: The Tommies have been off since Dec. 12, when they dropped a 4-1 nonconference decision to top-ranked St. Norbert at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. | 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:
• The Cardinals and Tommies head to St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., on Saturday for the second game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
•• Friday's game against St. Thomas is the second straight home game for the Cardinals, who are 4-1-0 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena this season. … Saint Mary's 6-4 loss to MSOE last Sunday was its first home setback of the season. … After going 6-0-2 in their previous eight games, the Cardinals are in the midst of a season-high three-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' season-high eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) was the longest since Saint Mary's went 7-0-1 during the 1996-97 season. … With their four goals against MSOE, the Cardinals have now scored four goals or more in nine of their 13 games. … With their four goals against MSOE last Sunday, the Cardinals have now scored 61 goals in their first 13 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. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) scored a pair of goals against MSOE last Sunday, while Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) accounted for the other two. … Cesarz and Heinle have now scored in two of Saint Mary's last three games. … After not scoring a goal in his first year as a Cardinal, Heinle has now netted at least one goal in eight of the team's 13 games—and leads the team with 12 goals, four more than 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 Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) 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.). … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.)—who had a goal and an assist vs. MSOE last Sunday—has recorded at least one point in 10 of the team's 13 games, including 17 in his last eight contests (6 G, 11 A). … Kinne has notched at least one point in nine of 13 games—including 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in Saint Mary's last nine contests. … 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 (21). … Gruse is one of eight Cardinals with at least 10 points this season—Kinne (19), Wasell (14), Johnson (14), Heinle (13), Cesarz (11), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn. / 11), and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill. / 10) are the others. … Heinle and Landon Farrell (Rochester, Minn.) have each scored their first collegiate goals this season. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) made a season-high 45 saves against MSOE last Sunday. Heinle's 45 saves were six shy of his career high. … Heinle heads into Friday's game against St. Thomas with a 3.16 goals-against-average and an .802 save percentage. … Heinle has made 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 23-11 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's is 5-0-2 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
• The Tommies' 4-1 loss to No. 1-ranked St. Norbert on Dec. 12 snapped their two-game winning streak. … After opening the season 4-1-2, UST is 3-3-0 in its last six contests. … Five of the Tommies' nine defeats over the last two seasons have come against ranked teams. … Michael Dockry scored the Tommies' lone goal against St. Norbert on Dec. 12. … In the Tommies' last MIAC series—4-2 and 5-3 wins over Hamline—UST's nine goals came from seven different players. … Dockry heads into this weekend's games 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 Nick Nielsen. … Dockry, who has scored in each of the Tommies' last two games, has netted a team-high two game-winning goals. … UST's 35 goals have come from 12 different players, while 19 of the 23 players have recorded at least one point. … The Tommies have scored first in five of their 13 games, going 4-1-0. UST is 3-3-2 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 35-29—including 13-8 in the second period and 14-9 in the third. … St. Thomas played nine of its first 13 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. … Three of St. Thomas' four losses have been by one goal—UST lost to UW-River Falls 3-2, Bethel 2-1, and Utica 1-0.