GENEVA, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out its two-game nonconference series against Aurora on Sunday, returning to the Fox Valley Ice Arena for a 4 p.m. rematch with the Spartans
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4-2 Overall) at Aurora Spartans (3-7-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Night:
• The Cardinals got goals from seven different players in snapping a three-game losing streak with a 7-2 nonconference win over Aurora at the Fox Valley Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Aurora—A Year Ago:
• November 28, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: The first time Saint Mary's and Aurora squared off, the Spartans took advantage of a lackluster performance in handing the Cardinals a 6-3 nonconference setback. When the two teams squared off again in the first game of their two-game nonconference series at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, the Cardinals made sure there would be no repeat performance—at least in the won-loss column—scoring three times in the third period to break open a 4-4 tie and cruise to a 7-4 victory | Recap
• November 29, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: The goals came fast and furious—and plentiful—in Saint Mary's 7-4 nonconference win over Aurora in the first game of their nonconference series at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Goals were a little harder to come by Sunday afternoon in the teams' nonconference rematch. Until the third period that is. Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) completed his first hat trick of the season—and second of his career—highlighting the Cardinals' second straight three-goal third-period, as Saint Mary's handed the Spartans a 5-3 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Jan. 6-7, 2017, when they square off against St. Thomas in a two-game MIAC series. Saint Mary's will head to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., on Friday, Jan. 6 for a 7 p.m. showdown, with the teams heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for the 7 p.m. rematch a day later.
• Aurora: The Spartans will now break until Jan. 6-7, 2017, when they head to Adrian, Mich., for a pair of game against Adrian. Game 1 is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start, with Game 2 scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Sunday's game against Aurora is the second of three straight road games for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals, who had their five-game winning streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 22, snapped a season-high three-game losing streak with Saturday's win over Aurora. … Saint Mary's loss to CC on Dec. 2 snapped their conference-opening four-game winning streak. The Cardinals' four straight wins to open the conference was the first time since the 1997-98 season that Saint Mary's has opened MIAC play 4-0-0. … Six of the Cardinals' 12 games have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals' seven goals in Saturday's 7-2 win over Aurora came from seven different players—Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.), Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.), Landon Farrell (Rochester, Minn.), and Jay Heinle (York, Pa). … With his goal against the Spartans, Heinle has now scored in three times in the Cardinals' last four games, while Cesarz had netted goals in back-to-back games. … With their goals against Aurora, Kinne and Heinle remained tied for the team's goal-scoring lead with six each. … 
 
 
Kinne also shares the team lead in points (8) with Albergo, one point in front of Heinle, Portner, and Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.). … Albergo is the team's assist leader with eight, one better than Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.). … Kinne has recorded at least one point in eight of the team's 12 games—including goals in six of those 12 contests. … Saint Mary's 38 goals have come from 14 different players—including collegiate firsts from Cummings, Dylan Robertson (Darien, Ill.), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) and Joey Mavrin (Lockport, Ill.). … Nineteen different players have accounted for Saint Mary's 53 assists. … 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. … Jared Johnson scored on a first-period penalty shot goal against MSOE on Nov. 22—it was the Cardinals' first since Jesse Polk scored on a penalty shot during the 2007-08 season. … Cesarz scored three goals in the Cardinals' MIAC sweep of St. Olaf on Nov. 18-19—scoring twice in Saint Mary's 6-3 Game 1 win, while adding another in the Cardinals' sweep-clinching 3-0 victory a day later. Cesarz has now scored seven goals in eight career games against St. Olaf—the junior netted his first collegiate hat trick vs. the Oles in 2014-15, and added a goal and an assist last year. … Cesarz—owner of four multiple-goal games in his collegiate career—is the third Saint Mary's player to record a two-goal game this season, joining Heinle and Walz, who 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. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced Saturday in posting his second win of the season in goal for the Cardinals. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.), who made 48 saves in the Cardinals' two games against Concordia on Dec. 2-3, stopped all 25 shots he faced against St. Olaf on Nov. 19 for his first shutout of the season—and fourth of his career. … Heinle stopped a season-high 38 shots against Bethel on Nov. 12. … Davis finished with 28 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 en route to his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Heinle heads into Sunday's nonconference game against Aurora owning a 2.46 goals-against-average and a .908 save percentage in eight starts. Davis, meanwhile, boasts a 2.98 GAA and .886 save percentage in three starts. … The Cardinals have scored first in all five of their wins this season. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 16-9 in the first period, and 10-9 in the third, but have been outscored 14-12 in the second. … Three of the Cardinals' 11 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 on Nov. 4. … 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 Aurora Spartans:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Sunday's nonconference game against Saint Mary's is the the of three straight home games for the Spartans—who are 2-3-0 on their home ice at the Fox Valley Ice Arena. … Aurora's 2-1 win over Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 2 snapped their season-high three-game losing streak. … Three of Aurora's seven losses have been by one goal—3-2 at UW-Eau Claire, 4-3 at St. Norbert, and 3-2 vs. Concordia (Wis.). … Aurora has given up 32 goals in its seven losses this season—including a season-high eight goals in a season-opening 8-1 loss to defending national champion UW-Stevens Point. … Brendan Logan and Rudolfs Kalvitis scored the Spartans' two goals in Saturday's loss to Saint Mary's. … With his goal against Saint Mary's, Logan moved into a tie for the team lead in goals (4) with Bayley Marshall. … Aurora boasts two players—Trevor Hoth and Andrew Rupert—who share the team lead with four assists each. … Logan is the team's points leader with six, two more than Marshall and Nikita Smirnov. … Aurora's three game-winning goals have come from three different players—Logan, Marshall, and Chris Nowacki. … The Spartans have had three different goalies see action this season, led by Hunter Vorva, who has started seven of the team's nine contests. … Vorva enters the weekend series against Saint Mary's owning a 3.35 goals-against-average and a .910 save percentage, while Jared Rutledge boasts a 3.29 GAA and .926 save percentage in three appearances, and Max Kirkwood has a 4.30 GAA and .860 save percentage in three relief appearances. … Aurora has scored nine of its 18 goals this season in the second period. The Spartans have been outscored 9-4 in the first, 14-9 in the second, and 12-5 in the third. … Aurora has scored first in four of its 10 games, going 3-1-0. The Spartans are winless (0-6-0) when their opponent nets the game's first goal.