BLAINE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team kicks off the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season on Friday, as the Cardinals travel to the Schwan's Super Rink for a 7 p.m. matchup with Bethel
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC, 2-0-0 Overall) at Bethel Royals (0-0-0 MIAC, 1-2-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 28-29, 2016 * Fond du Lac, Wis./De Pere, Wis.: The Cardinals picked up a pair of one-goal victories in their season-opening weekend, edging Marian 4-3, while holding off St. Norbert 5-4 | Marian Recap * SNC Recap
• Bethel—November 4, 2016 * River Falls, Wis.: The Royals dropped their second straight meeting with UW-River Falls last Friday, falling to the nationally ranked Falcons 7-1 at Hunt Arena | Recap
 
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:
• The Cardinals and Royals complete their two-game conference series on Saturday, as Saint Mary's hosts BU in a 2 p.m. MIAC contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Cardinals 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. … The Cardinals' nine goals in sweeping Marian and St. Norbert came from five 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.) put together back-to-back one-goal, one-assist games against Marian and St. Norbert. … Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) also had a goal in each of the Cardinals' first two games, while Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.), and Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) accounted for the other two. … 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. … Hafiz and Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill.) share the team lead in assists with two, while Hafiz and Henderson are the team-leaders in points with four. … Four of the Cardinals' nine 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. … Shields owns an .889 save percentage, while Corcoran's save percentage is at .875. … Saint Mary's has scored five of its nine goals in the third period, while the Cardinals' opponents have netted six of their seven goals in the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• After opening the season with a 3-1 win over UW-Superior, the Royals have dropped back-to-back games to UW-River Falls, falling 4-0 and 7-1. … Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the third home game of the season for the Royals, who play seven of their first 11 games on their home ice. … Sarah Moy scored the Royals' lone goal in last Friday's 7-1 loss to UW-River Falls. The Falcons then scored the next seven goals in the 7-1 UW-River Falls win. … Bethel's four goals this season have come from four different players—Moy, Wendy Roberts, Britta Nelson, and Natalie Simons. … Roberts also owns one of the team's three assists for a team-leading two points through three games. … Sabrina Goos and Kaitlyn VanTassel have also picked up assists this season. … Bethel has not scored a power-play goal this season, going 0-for-14, but the team does own one short-handed goal, coming from Nelson. … Bethel's opponents, meanwhile, have scored six of their 12 goals with the man advantage. … Maggie Straka and Michelle Klimstra have shared the goaltending duties this season. Straka has started two games, owning a 5.50 goals-against-average and an .884 save percentage in two 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 two of its four goals in the second period. BU has been outscored 5-2 in the second period and 6-1 in the game's final 20 minutes. … Bethel has scored first in two of its three games this season.