WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Bethel on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Royals in a 2 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1-0 MIAC, 2-1-0 Overall) vs. Bethel Royals (1-0-0 MIAC, 2-2-0 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• Bethel erupted for five unanswered goals, erasing 1-0 and 2-1 Saint Mary's leads in handing the Cardinals a 6-2 setback in the teams' conference opener at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn.
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—A Year Ago:
• November 13, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: After surrendering 81 shots on goal in their previous contest, the Cardinals were in dire need of a shut-down defensive performance Friday evening against Bethel. And the Cardinals did that—to a point—limiting the visiting Royals to just 27 shots on goal. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Royals converted on four of those 27 shots in dealing Saint Mary's a 4-2 setback in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• November 14, 2015 * Blaine, Minn.: A day after giving up four goals in a 4-2 loss to Bethel, the Cardinals limited the host Royals to just a single goal in the second game of their two-game conference series. Bethel's defense, however, was equally as stingy—also surrendering just a first-period goal—as the teams battled to a 1-1 overtime tie at the Schwan's Super Rink | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in conference action next weekend with a pair of games against St. Olaf. Saint Mary's heads to the Northfield (Minn.) Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown vs. the Oles on Friday, with the two teams then heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Friday's 6-2 loss against Bethel snapped the Cardinals' two-game, season-opening winning streak—Saint Mary's had kicked off their 2016-17 campaign in winning fashion with victories over both Marian and St. Norbert on Oct. 28-29. … Both of the Cardinals' wins in their season-opening weekend were by one goal—4-3 at Marian and 5-4 at St. Norbert. … The wins over Marian and St. Norbert mark the first time the Cardinals have opened the year with back-to-back wins since beating the same two teams to open the 2010-11 season. … The Cardinals' combined nine goals in their season-opening weekend were the most in a two-game weekend since netting nine in a sweeping Marian 6-0 and 3-2 on Jan. 9-10, 2010. … Saint Mary's and St. Norbert scored seven third-period goals in their nonconference game on Oct. 29—including five in the game's final 1:33. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) and Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) scored the Cardinals' two goals against Bethel Friday. … Saint Mary's 11 goals have come from six different players, led by Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) with three. … Henderson had a goal and an assist in Saint Mary's 4-3 win over Marian, while adding a pair of goals against St. Norbert. … Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) has put together three straight two-point games to open her collegiate career—scoring one goal and adding an assist in wins over Marian and St. Norbert, while adding two assists against Bethel Friday. … Hafiz's goal at 9:50 of the opening period against Marian was her first collegiate goal—as well as the Cardinals' first goal of the season. … Henderson heads into Saturday's rematch with Bethel owning a team-best three goals, while Hafiz is the team leader in both assists (4) and points (6). …  Four of the Cardinals' 11 goals have come on special teams—three power-play and one shorthanded. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) made 21 saves in the Cardinals' win over Marian on Oct. 28, while Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) posted 32 stops against St. Norbert the following day. … Corcoran owns a 3.00 goals-against-average and an .882 save percentage, while Shields has a 5.40 GAA and an .862 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored five of its 11 goals in the third period, while the Cardinals' opponents have netted seven of their 13 goals in the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Friday's 6-2 win over Saint Mary's snapped the Royals' two-game losing streak. BU has now sandwiched wins over UW-Superior (3-1) and Saint Mary's (6-2) around back-to-back losses to UW-River Falls (4-0 and 7-1). … Friday's game against Saint Mary's was the third home game of the season for the Royals, who play seven of their first 11 games on their home ice. … Sarah Moy and Wendy Roberts each scored two goals against Saint Mary's Friday and share the team's goal-scoring lead with three each. … BU's other four goals have come from four different players—Lauren Kojak, Kaitlyn VanTassel, Britta Nelson, and Natalie Simons. … Bethel's nine assists this season have come from nine different players. … Bethel has not scored a power-play goal this season, going 0-for-18, but the team does own one short-handed goal, coming from Nelson. … Bethel's opponents, meanwhile, have scored seven of their 14 goals with the man advantage. … Maggie Straka and Michelle Klimstra have shared the goaltending duties this season. Straka—who made 20 saves against Saint Mary's Friday—has started three games, owning a 4.33 goals-against-average and an .889 save percentage in three starts, while Klimstra allowed just one goal and made 30 saves in her one start—BU's 3-1 season-opening win over UW-Superior. … Bethel has scored seven of its 10 goals in the second period. BU has outscored its opponents 7-6 in the second period, but have been outscored 2-1 in the first period and 6-2 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Bethel has scored first in two of its four games this season.