WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, entertaining St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. showdown at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-8-0 MIAC, 2-11-1 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (13-1-1 MIAC, 7-0-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
•  Saint Mary's—October 19, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals got a second-half goal from Maura Michener (Winona, Minn.), but it was not enough to offset the high-powered offense of UW-La Crosse, as the Eagles handed Saint Mary's a 3-1 nonconference setback at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
• St. Thomas—October 19, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Tommies erupted for three second-half goals in cruising to a 4-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Bethel at South Field | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—A Year Ago:
• October 24, 2015 * St. Paul, Minn.: Saint Mary's faced a rather daunting task in their conference game against St. Thomas. After all, the Tommies entered the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown unbeaten in their last seven games—having outscored those seven opponents 12-4. The Cardinals' defense did its part, limiting the high-octane St. Thomas offense to just one first-half goal. Unfortunately for coach Neil Cassidy and the Cardinals, one goal was all it took, as St. Thomas made their first-half tally stand up in beating Saint Mary's 1-0 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the road portion of their 2016 regular-season schedule on Wednesday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC showdown against St. Catherine.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies are back on the road on Wednesday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. conference matchup against Carleton.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against UW-La Crosse was the final nonconference game of the regular-season for the Cardinals. … Maura Michener (Winona, Minn.) scored her first collegiate goal in the Cardinals' 3-1 loss to UW-La Crosse Wednesday. … Michener became the third player to record her first goal as a Cardinal this season—Hailey Cottle (Orting, Wash.) and Abby Lafko (Gilbert, Ariz.) are the others. … The Cardinals' last nine goals have come from six different players—Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.) has netted three, with Michener, Cottle, Lafko, Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn.), Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Bridgette Leverich (Verona, Wis.) accounting for the other five goals. … With her first-half tally vs. Gustavus on Sept. 28, Dup moved into a share of the team lead in goals (3) with Schaefer—one more than Loof, Lafko, Leverich, and Wallraff. … Schaefer is also the team's points leader with eight—two more than Dup and Leverich—while Aubrie Cornell (Columbia, Mo.) owns a team-high three assists. … Loof collected the Cardinals' first goal of the season, scoring in the game's 72^nd minute against Luther on Sept. 1. … Schaefer and Wallraff each scored two goals in the Cardinals' 7-2 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 5. It was the fourth multiple-goal game of her career for Schaefer, while it was the first time in her career that Wallraff has scored twice in a game. … Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), who made five saves in the Cardinals' 3-1 loss to UW-La Crosse on Wednesday, finished with a career-high 10 saves in Saint Mary's 1-0 setback against Hamline on Oct. 8. … Pederson has now made eight or more saves in a game five times this season. … Pederson, who has started the Cardinals' last 13 games in goal, has recorded two shutouts this season. Pederson earned her first collegiate shutout against Benedictine on Sept. 9—without having to record a save—while stopping the lone UW-Superior shot she faced en route to shutout No. 2 on Sept. 18. … Pederson owns a 1.79 goals-against-average and has made 70 saves in 1,259 minutes played. … Seven of the Cardinals' 14 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals have played three overtime games this season—Saint Mary's dropped 1-0 OT decisions to both Concordia and UW-River Falls, while battling Benedictine to a 0-0, double-overtime draw. … The Cardinals' 0-0 deadlock against Benedictine on Sept. 9 was their first tie since a 3-3 stalemate against Gustavus on Oct. 1, 2014. … The Cardinals' scoreless deadlock against Benedictine on Sept. 9 was also their first 0-0 tie since Oct. 2, 2010, when Saint Mary's and Concordia played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. … The Cardinals' seven goals in their 7-2 nonconference win over Martin Luther on Sept. 5 were a season high. All seven goals came after Saint Mary's surrendered back-to-back tallies to the Vikings in the game's opening 20 minutes. … The Cardinals' seven goals against Martin Luther were the most since netting seven against both UW-Superior and Bethany Lutheran during the 2014 season. … Ten of the Cardinals' last 12 goals have come in the second half. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 11-9 after halftime, but the Cardinals have been outscored 18-6 in the game's opening 45 minutes. … The Cardinals' 7-2 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 5 snapped a 12-game road losing streak, dating back to a 7-1 win at Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 23, 2014.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back road games for the Tommies, who travel to Carleton next Wednesday, before closing out their regular-season schedule at home against Augsburg. … St. Thomas enters Saturday's game against Saint Mary's ranked No. 13 in the latest NSCAA Top 25. … The Tommies erupted for a season-high four goals in their win over Bethel Wednesday—including three in the second half. … UST's 4-0 win over Bethel was its 12^th shutout win of the season. … Eight of St. Thomas' 13 wins this season have been 1-0 decisions—including five of their last six victories. … The Tommies had season-opening, 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1) snapped with a 1-0 loss to UW-Stout on Oct. 12. … Mallory DeBoom heads into Saturday's game against Saint Mary's as the team's offensive leader, owning team-highs in goals (6) and points (17), while sharing the team's top spot in assists (5) with Hailey Zweber. … Taylor Skorik, Brielle Bierman, and McKenna Peplinski are all second to DeBoom in goals with three each. … Four of DeBoom's six goals of have been game-winners, while Skorik, Bierman, Brie Bourdage have netted two game-winners each. … Thirteen different Tommies have recorded at least one point this season. … Tarynn Thellig has started all l15 games in goal for the Tommies, compiling a 0.20 goals-against-average and a .958 save percentage. … Thellig has stopped 68 of the 71 shots she's faced and has recorded 10 shutouts. … The Tommies have outscored their opponents 23-3—including 11-2 in the first half and 12-2 after halftime. … UST has played three overtime games this season—beating both La Verne and UT-Dallas 1-0 in double overtime, and tying Saint Benedict 1-1.