WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against St. Olaf on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Oles in a 2 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1-1 MIAC, 3-1-1 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (0-3-0 MIAC, 1-5-0 Overall)
 
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Thursday Night:
• Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) scored a pair of goals, as the Cardinals picked up their first MIAC win of the season, beating St. Olaf 6-3 Thursday evening at the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—A Year Ago:
• November 20, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor has told his players over and over and over again—there is no easy win in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. And the Cardinals learned that first-hand in their conference showdown against St. Olaf. Fortunately for Saint Mary's, it may not have been, but when the final horn sounded it was a win—a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over the Oles at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• November 21, 2015 * Northfield, Minn.: Saint Mary's was good in its MIAC opener against St. Olaf—and even better in the rematch. Thanks to Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) and McKenna Parent (Anoka, Minn.). The duo—who accounted for both Saint Mary's goals in Friday's 2-1 win—put the Cardinal offense on their backs for a second straight game as Henderson and Parent accounted for all three goals in a 3-1 conference victory at the Northfield Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play next Saturday, entertaining UW-Eau Claire in a 4 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
• St. Olaf: The Oles are back in action on Tuesday, traveling to W.H. Hunt Arena in River Falls, Wis., for a 7:05 p.m. nonconference game against UW-River Falls.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Saturday's game against St. Olaf is the first of back-to-back home games for the Cardinals. … Saint Mary's heads into its rematch with the Oles unbeaten in its last two games (1-0-1). … Saint Mary's 6-2 loss to Bethel on Nov. 11 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. … The Cardinals' six goals against St. Olaf on Thursday were a season high—and the highest single-game offensive output since scoring six against both Marian and Hamline during the 2009-2010 season. … Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) recorded her first collegiate two-goal game against St. Olaf on Thursday, while Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.), Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.), Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.), and Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) accounted for the other four. … Hafiz has now recorded multiple-point games in four of the Cardinals' five contests this season, scoring five goals and adding four assists. … Hafiz heads into Saturday's rematch with St. Olaf leading the team in all three offensive categories—goals (5), assists (4), and points (9). … Lien, Hannula, and Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) are second to Hafiz with three goals each. … 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. … The Cardinals boast three players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Hafiz, Ryan, and Wendt. … Saint Mary's scored a pair of shorthanded goals against the Oles on Thursday—back-to-back tallies by Hannula and Lien less than a minute apart midway through the second period. … Eight of the Cardinals' 19 goals have come on special teams—four power-play and four shorthanded. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) made a season-high 25 saves against St. Olaf on Thursday. The sophomore is now 1-0-1 in her last two starts—stopping 20 shots in the Cardinals' 2-2 tie against Bethel on Nov. 12. … Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) posted a season-best 32 saves in Saint Mary's 5-4 win against St. Norbert on Oct. 29. … Corcoran owns a 2.63 goals-against-average and an .893 save percentage, while Shields has a 5.40 GAA and an .862 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored eight goals in both the second and third periods, while the Cardinals' opponents have netted nine goals in both the second and third. … The Cardinals have not allowed a first-period goal all season. … The Cardinals have scored first in four of their five games—going 2-1-1. Saint Mary's is 1-0-0 when its opponent scores first. … Three of the Cardinals' five games have been decided by one goal or less—Saint Mary's opened the season with one-goal wins over Marian (4-3) and St. Norbert (5-4), and added a 2-2 tie vs. Bethel. … Saint Mary's wins over Marian and St. Norbert on Oct. 28-29 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.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• After opening the season with a 2-0 win over UW-Stevens Point, the Oles have now dropped five straight. … After playing five of their first six games at home, Saturday's contest at Saint Mary's is the first of three straight road games for the Oles. … St. Olaf's three goals in Thursday's 6-3 loss to Saint Mary's marked the first time this season the Oles have scored more than two goals in a game. … Two of St. Olaf's five losses have been 2-0 shutouts—vs. UW-Eau Claire on Sept. 9 and against Hamline last Saturday. … Saint Mary's six goals on Thursday were the most allowed by the Oles through six games this season. … Natalie Kelly, Jane Vezina, and Molly Andrews scored St. Olaf's three goals vs. Saint Mary's on Thursday. … Vezina has now scored in back-to-back games and leads the team with three goals—one more than Megan Skelly. … Xandi Swedberg and Hannah Forliti share the team lead in assists with two, while nine other Oles have collected one assist each. … Vezina, Forliti, and Swedberg share the team's points lead with three, one more than Skelly. … Cassie Alexander and Hailey Sampson both saw action against Saint Mary's on Thursday—Alexander made 26 saves through the first two periods, while Sampson stopped 10 Cardinal shots in the third. … The Oles have used three different goalies through six games this season. Alexander has compiled a 2.64 goals-against-average and a .912 save percentage in three starts, while Mae Moris boasts a 3.05 GAA and .902 save percentage in two starts, and Sampson owns a 2.25 GAA and .932 save percentage in two appearances—one start and one in relief. … St. Olaf has scored nine goals this season—four in the second period and five in the third. … The Oles have been outscored 4-0 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … St. Olaf scored first in their lone win thus far this season, while going 0-5-0 when their opponent nets the game's first goal.