WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team is back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals host St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-0-0 MIAC, 3-1-2 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (0-2-0 MIAC, 1-5-0 Overall)
 
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• Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 11-12, 2016 * Winona, Minn./Blaine, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up a pair of victories over Bethel in the teams' conference openers last weekend. Saint Mary's got goals from Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kyle Meeh (Fulton, Mo.) in a 2-1 win last Friday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, before completing the sweep with a 4-2 victory the following evening at the Schwan's Super Rink | BU Recap 1 * BU Recap 2
• St. Olaf—November 11-12, 2016 * Superior, Wis. * Northfield, Minn.: The Oles picked up their first win of the season last Friday, blanking UW-Superior 6-0, but could not post win No. 2, falling to UW-Stout 5-4 in overtime | UW-Superior Recap * UW-Stout Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—A Year Ago:
• November 20, 2015 * Northfield, Minn.: Saint Mary's was less than two minutes away from its third straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Friday evening. And then the Oles snatched the victory from the Cardinals' grasp. St. Olaf scored the game-tying goal with 1:24 remaining in regulation, as the two teams battled to a 4-4 conference tie—with the Oles grabbing the extra conference point via a 2-0 win in the shootout | Recap
• November 21, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: This time around, Saint Mary's wasn't about to let their first-period lead slip away. Jay and Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) made sure of that. Jay Heinle scored twice and brother Phil stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced in leading the Cardinals to a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over St. Olaf at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Oles head to the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn., on Saturday for the second game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• With their 2-1 and 4-2 wins over Bethel last weekend, the Cardinals have now won three straight—and are unbeaten in their last four (3-0-1). … Four of Saint Mary's six games this season have been decided by one goal or less—the exceptions, a pair of two goal victories over UW-River Falls (5-3) and Bethel (4-2). … Saint Mary's six goals against Bethel came from six different players—Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) accounted for the Cardinals' two goals vs. Bethel last Friday, while Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.), Jay Heinle (York, Pa.), Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), and Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) found the back of the net in last Saturday's rematch. … Kinne has now scored in four of the team's six games—and has had at least one point in five of the Cardinals' six contests. … Along with his team-leading four goals, Kinne also shares the team lead in points (6) with Gruse and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.). … Albergo has dished out a team-high six assists—all coming in the Cardinals' last three games—with Gruse close behind with five. … Saint Mary's 19 goals have come from 12 different players—including collegiate firsts from Meeh, Cummings, Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) and Joey Mavrin (Lockport, Ill.). … Fourteen different players have accounted for Saint Mary's 28 assists. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) and Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) each posted two-goal games against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5. … Walz's two-goal game against UW-River Falls was the first multiple-goal game of his career. … Albergo and Gruse each picked up assists on three of Saint Mary's five goals vs. UW-River Falls on Nov. 5. It was the fourth time in his collegiate career Gruse has had a three-assist night, while Albergo's was his first. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) picked up the win in both games against Bethel last weekend, stopping 16 shots on Friday, before posting a season-high 38 saves in Saturday's rematch. … Heinle's 38-save effort against the Royals Saturday matched his single-game career high—the senior also stopped 38 shots against Concordia on March 1, 2015. … Heinle is now unbeaten (2-0-2) in his four starts. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) finished with 28 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 en route to his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Heinle heads into this weekend's game against St. Olaf owning a 2.17 goals-against-average and a .920 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored five power-play goals this season. … The Cardinals have now scored first in all three of its wins this season. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 7-5 in the first period, and 6-1 in the third, but have been outscored 8-6 in the second. … Three of the Cardinals' six games this season have gone into overtime—Saint Mary's opened the year with a 3-3 tie against St. Thomas and a 3-2 OT loss to Concordia, before battling UW-Eau Claire to a 3-3 deadlock last Friday. … With their 3-3 tie against No. 8 UW-Eau Claire, Saint Mary's is now 0-2-4 in their last six overtime games. The Cardinals' last OT win was a 4-3, double-overtime victory over Concordia in the 2015 MIAC Playoffs. … The Cardinals' 3-3 tie against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 4 marked the second straight meeting between the two teams that has ended in a 3-3 deadlock.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Oles' 6-0 win over UW-Superior was their first win of the season—snapping a season-opening four-game losing streak. … Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the fifth road game of the season for the Oles. … The Oles' six goals in their 6-0 win over UW-Superior last Friday were a season-high. … After scoring just a combined four goals in their first three games, St. Olaf has netted 14 goals in its last three contests. … The Oles have allowed four or more goals in five of their first six games this season—including a season-high five goals in losses to Saint John's (5-2), Hamline (5-4), and UW-Stout (5-4). … Steven Sherman had two goals and an assist, while J.T. Paine added a goal and two assists in the Oles' 6-0 win over UW-Superior last Friday. … Will Dittrich, Patrick Sivets, and Kyle Rimbach netted St. Olaf's other three goals in St. Olaf's 6-0 win over UW-Superior. … Dittrich and Paine also scored in the Oles' 5-4 loss to UW-Stout last Saturday, with Chris Koziel and Tobias Gabrielsen accounting for the other two. … With his goal over the weekend, Paine moved into a tie for the team lead (3) with Drew Otto. … Sherman is the team's assist leader with four—one more than Otto, Paine, Gabrielsen, Sivets and Tuukka Totro—while Otto, Paine, and Sherman share the team lead in points with six each. … Nine of the Oles' 18 goals have come on special teams—St. Olaf owns seven power-play goals and two shorthanded tallies. … Jude Hull made 37 saves in recording the shutout win vs. UW-Superior last Friday. … Hull and Eric Hancock have shared the goaltending duties this season. Hancock owns a 4.43 goals-against-average and .870 save percentage in four games played, while Hull boasts a 2.51 GAA and .935 save percentage in two games. … St. Olaf has scored eight of its 18 goals in the second period, while netting five goals in both the first and third periods. … The Oles have been outscored 10-5 over the game's final 20 minutes. … St. Olaf is 1-1-0 when scoring first, but winless (0-4-0) when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … St. Olaf's 6-0 win over UW-Superior last Friday was the first victory under head coach Mike Eaves.