WINONA, Minn. — After three straight road games, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team returns to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, as the Cardinals square off against St. Catherine in the first game of their two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-6-2 MIAC | 9-11-3 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (4-10-2 MIAC | 5-13-5 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program | Senior Salute
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kept their MIAC Playoff hopes alive last weekend, sweeping a pair of games from Saint Benedict in St. Cloud, Minn. Saint Mary's beat the Blazers 3-1 last Friday at the Municipal Athletic Complex, then added a 3-0 victory a day later | CSB Recap 1 * CSB Recap 2
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats played a pair of one-goal games in earning a split against Hamline. SCU won the first game 1-0 on Friday at Oscar Johnson Arena, before falling 2-1 in the rematch a day later at Drake Arena | HU Recap 1 * HU Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—A Year Ago:
• December 5, 2014 * St. Paul, Minn.:  Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) had so much fun scoring her first collegiate goal in Saint Mary's nonconference game against St. Norbert a week ago, that the Cardinal freshman was at it again against St. Catherine. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Henderson's second goal in as many games was all the offense they would muster, as St. Catherine used a pair of second-period goals to hand Saint Mary's a 2-1 conference setback at Drake Arena | Recap
• December 6, 2014 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals—thanks to Rory Petrisin's (High Bridge, N.J.) goal with 12 seconds remaining in overtime—finally gave their three seniors their first win over St. Catherine, beating the Wildcats 3-2 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Wildcats head to Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday for the second game of the teams' two-game conference series. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
 
MIAC Playoff Picture:
•  St. Thomas (11-4-1, 23 points), Concordia (11-5-0, 22 points), and Bethel (10-4-2, 22 points) have already locked up three of the five MIAC Playoff berths. Augsburg (9-5-2, 20 points) and Saint Mary's (8-6-2, 18 points) currently hold down the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, with Gustavus (7-6-3, 17 points) just one point back with two games remaining.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• Fueled by their 3-1, 3-0 sweep of Saint Benedict, the Cardinals have now won three straight games and improved to 5-2-1 in their last eight games. … The Cardinals' sweep of Saint Benedict was their second conference sweep of the season—Saint Mary's also won back-to-back games against St. Olaf on Nov. 20-21. … Last Saturday's 3-0 win over Saint Benedict marked just the second time in the Cardinals' last 22 games that the end result was not decided by two goals or less. … Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.) recorded her second straight Saturday shutout with the Cardinals' 3-0 win over Saint Benedict. The senior goalie—who made 21 saves against the Blazers last Saturday—posted a 30-save shutout in Saint Mary's 2-0 win over Gustavus on Feb. 6. … McKenna Parent (Anoka, Minn.) and Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.) each scored a goal in both games against Saint Benedict last weekend, while Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Lindsay Paschke (New Prague, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' other two goals. … Wallraff also had an assist in Friday's 3-1 win for her first collegiate two-point game. … Parent has now scored goals in three straight games. … Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.)—who picked up two assists against Saint Benedict last weekend—is the team-leader in goals with 11 and shares the team laed in points (18) with Parent. … Henderson's 11 goals are the most by a Cardinal since Haley Coolsaet netted 11 during the 2010-11 season. … Parent—who posted her first collegiate two-goal game against Concordia on Dec. 4—leads the team in assists with nine, two more than Henderson and Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.). … Parent (17) and Lien (11) join Henderson as Cardinals who have recorded 10 or more points this season. … Lien recorded her second collegiate two-goal game against Hamline on Jan. 22. … Henderson and Parent each posted their first collegiate three-point games against St. Olaf on Nov. 21, while Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Lien both notched career-best two-assist nights in that same game. … Wallraff's second-period goal against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 2 was the first of her collegiate career. … Herrmann's shutout against Saint Benedict last Saturday was the fourth of her collegiate career. … Herrmann has made 30 or more saves in seven of her 13 starts this season. … Marah Shields (Milford, Mich.) has made 30 or more saves in four of her seven starts this season. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) stopped 42 St. Norbert shots in her collegiate debut between the pipes on Nov. 28. … Herrmann—who notched her first collegiate assist in the Cardinals' 1-1 tie against Bethel on Nov. 14—has made 13 starts in goal for the Cardinals, going 8-3-2 with a 1.44 goals-against-average and .953 save percentage. … Herrmann's 1.44 GAA and .953 save percentage both rank No. 2 in the MIAC. … Shields (7 starts, 2.47 GAA, 940 save percentage) recorded a school-record 79 saves in the Cardinals' 2-0 loss to UW-Superior on Oct. 31. … The 79-save effort—which ranks No. 6 all-time in NCAA Division III history—is 24 saves more than the previous record of 55, set by Nikki Jung against Gustavus on Jan. 21, 2005. … Shields made 22 saves in the first period, 33 in the second, and 24 in the third en route to her 79-save performance. … With their 2-0 win over Gustavus on Feb. 6, the Cardinals snapped a 28-game losing streak against the Gusties. Prior to Saturday's win, the last time Saint Mary's had beaten GAC was a 2-1 win in the MIAC Tournament on March 2, 2002. … The Cardinals have played seven overtime games this season—falling to Gustavus (3-2), Hamline (2-1), UW-Eau Claire (2-1), and UW-Eau Claire (3-2), while tying UW-Eau Claire (1-1), Bethel (1-1), and Augsburg (1-1). … The Cardinals', 0-4-3 in overtimes this season, last OT win was a 3-2 victory over St. Olaf on Jan. 31, 2015. … Saint Mary's played six OT games a year ago, going 2-1-3. … All three of Saint Mary's ties this season have been 1-1 decisions. … The Cardinals have scored first in all nine of their wins this season (9-5-1). Saint Mary's is 0-6-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … With their 4-2 win over Hamline on Jan. 22, the Cardinals snapped their season-high seven-game winless streak (0-6-1). … The Cardinals' five-goal effort against UW-Superior in their 5-2 season-opening win on Oct. 30 was the Cardinals' highest offensive output since netting five goals in a 5-3 win over Hamline on Feb. 23, 2014. … The Cardinals' games against St. Thomas on Jan. 15-16 marked the third and fourth straight games against teams ranked in the Top 5 of the latest USCHO.com national poll. Along with their two conference games vs. No. 4 St. Thomas, Saint Mary's dropped 2-1 and 4-2 decisions to third-ranked Lake Forest the previous weekend. … With their 5-2 win over UW-Superior on Oct. 30, the Cardinals snapped a four-game season-opening winless streak (0-3-1). Saint Mary's last season-opening win was a 5-0 victory over Marian on Oct. 29, 2010. … Saint Mary's is coming off an 11-win season a year ago—the Cardinals' highest win total since going 11-11-3 during the 2010-11 season.
  
Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2015-16 Roster | 2015-16 Statistics | 2015-16 Schedule
• Last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Hamline snapped the Wildcats' five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1). … St. Catherine's last three losses have all been 2-1 decisions. … Thirteen of St. Catherine's 23 games have been decided by one goal or less—the Wildcats are 2-6-5 in those 13 contests. … The Wildcats have scored one goal or less in 12 of their 13 losses. … Annie Buttermore scored SCU's lone goal in its 1-0 win over Hamline last Friday, while Jordan Solheim found the back of the net in the Wildcats' 2-1 loss to the Pipers a day later. … Solheim's goal vs. Hamline last Saturday was her team-leading sixth of the season. … Mallory Ryan, who is second to Solheim in goals with five, leads the team in points with 10, while Randi Fabsits and Tori Thompson share the team lead in assists with six each. … St. Catherine's five game-winning goals have come from five different players. … Solheim (6), Ryan (5), and Laken Muller (5) have accounted for 16 of the team's 26 goals. … Kristen Pechacek and Abbi White have shared the goaltending duties this season, with White making 12 starts, while Pechacek has made 11. … Pechacek, who stopped 40 shots in blanking Hamline last Friday, owns a team-leading 1.31 goals-against-average and a .963 save percentage, while White boasts a 2.26 GAA and .929 save percentage. … Pechacek has made 40 or more saves five times this season—including a season-best 46 against UW-Superior on Jan. 9. White, meanwhile, owns three games of 40 or more saves, including a 44-save effort against Lake Forest on Oct. 31. … St. Catherine has scored just four first-period goals this season. … The Wildcats are 3-1-1 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 2-12-3 when their opponent scores first. … SCU has played six overtime games this season, falling to UW-Eau Claire (2-1), while tying Lake Forest (2-2), UW-Eau Claire (0-0), UW-Superior (1-1), Gustavus (1-1), and Saint Benedict (1-1).