STEVENS POINT, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team steps out of conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals head to K.B. Willett Arena for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Stevens Point.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-5-2 Overall) at UW-Stevens Point Pointers (11-2-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—January 6-7, 2017 * Mendota Heights, Minn./Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals split their conference series against league-leading St. Thomas, dropping a heartbreaking 6-5 overtime decision at the St. Thomas Arena last Friday, before collecting a 2-1 victory in the teams' rematch a day later at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | UST Recap 1 * UST Recap 2
• UW-Stevens Point—January 11, 2017 * Stevens Point, Wis.: Northland's Michael Berens with 1:03 remaining in regulation to lift the Lumberjacks to a 1-1 nonconference tie against third-ranked UW-Stevens Point at K.B. Willett Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Stevens Point—A Year Ago:
• January 15, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: UW-Stevens Point scored two goals in all three periods—including two in a two-minute span in the game's middle period—as the fourth-ranked Pointers handed the Cardinals a 6-2 setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the nonconference portion of their schedule on Saturday, heading to Dunn County Ice Arena in Menomonie, Wis., for a 7:30 p.m. matchup against UW-Stout.
• UW-Stevens Point: The Pointers are right back on their home ice at K.B. Willett Arena on Saturday, hosting Augsburg in a 7 p.m. nonconference game.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• With their 2-1 win over St. Thomas last Saturday, the Cardinals improved to 8-5-2 overall—with four wins coming on their home ice, and four coming away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Beginning with Friday's contest at UW-Stevens Point, the Cardinals play seven of their last 10 regular-season games on the road. … With their 2-1 win over league-leading and 15^th-ranked St. Thomas, the Cardinals have now had six of their last seven games against the Tommies decided by one goal or less, including all three this season—a 6-5 OT loss and 2-1 win last weekend, and a 3-3 tie at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase. … Last Friday's game against St. Thomas was the Cardinals' third straight road game—Saint Mary's owns a 4-3-1 record away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena this season. … Saint Mary's 6-5 loss to St. Thomas Friday marked the fourth time this season the Cardinals have gone into overtime—having opened the year with a 3-3 tie against St. Thomas and a 3-2 OT loss to Concordia at the MIAC Hockey Showcase, before battling UW-Eau Claire to a 3-3 deadlock on Nov. 4. … With their 6-5 loss against No. 15 St. Thomas last Friday, Saint Mary's is now 0-3-4 in their last seven overtime games. The Cardinals' last OT win was a 4-3, double-overtime victory over Concordia in the 2015 MIAC Playoffs. … Eight of the Cardinals' 15 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) had a hand in five of the Cardinals' seven goals against St. Thomas last weekend—earning him MIAC Athlete of the Week honors. The senior scored twice­—including forcing overtime with 16 seconds remaining in regulation—and added an assist in Friday's 6-5 OT loss, before assisting on Saint Mary's first goal, and scoring the game-winner midway through the second period, in Saturday's 2-1 win. … Kinne scored at least one goal in all three games against the Tommies, having also added the game-tying goal with 25 seconds remaining in regulation in the teams' 3-3 tie at the MIAC Hockey Showcase. … Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.), Seth Kamrass (Peachtree Corners, Ga.), Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn.), and Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) accounted for the Cardinals' other four goals vs. the Tommies last weekend. … Kinne heads into this weekend's games against UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout leading the team in goals (10) and points (17). … Kinne has scored a goal in four straight games—and in nine of the team's 15 contests. … Gruse, who had a pair of assists against St. Thomas last Friday, shares the team's assist lead (9) with Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) and Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.). … Walz picked up assists on three of the Cardinals' five goals in their 5-0 Dec. 11 win over Aurora—it was his first career three-assist game. … Walz became the third Cardinal to record a three-assist game this season, joining Albergo and Gruse, who 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. … Saint Mary's 50 goals have come from 15 different players—including collegiate firsts from Kamrass, Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Dylan Robertson (Darien, Ill.), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) and Joey Mavrin (Lockport, Ill.). … Eighteen different players have accounted for Saint Mary's 71 assists. … Johnson scored on a first-period penalty shot against MSOE on Nov. 22—it was the Cardinals' first since Jesse Polk scored on a penalty shot during the 2007-08 season. … Saint Mary's boasts five players who have recorded multiple-goal games this season—led by Heinle, who has achieved the feat twice. Kinne, Walz, Albergo, and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) are the other three. … Albergo and Heinle own five career-multiple-goal games, while Kinne and Cesarz have four. Walz's two-goal effort against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 was the first multiple-goal game of his career. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) finished with 24 saves against St. Thomas last Friday, while Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) equaled that effort against the Tommies a day later. … Heinle made 25 saves against St. Olaf on Nov. 19 en route to 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. The Cardinal junior has won three of his five starts this season. … Davis heads into this weekend's nonconference games against UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout owning a team-best 2.59 goals-against-average and .900 save percentage, with Heinle close behind with a 2.85 GAA and .895 save percentage. … Jake Hebda (Firestone, Colo.)—making his first start of the season—stopped all 12 shots he face against Aurora on Dec. 11 in recording his first collegiate shutout. … The Cardinals have scored first in 10 of their 15 games this season—including seven of their eight wins. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 20-11 in the first period, and 14-12 in the third. … 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 their 7-2 win over Aurora on Dec. 10. … Saint Mary's loss to Concordia 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. … 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 UW-Stevens Point Pointers:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of four straight home games for the Pointers, who are 6-0-2 at K.B. Willett Arena this season. … The Pointers—the defending NCAA Division III national champion—enter this weekend's games against Saint Mary's and Augsburg ranked No. 3 in the latest USCHO.com Poll. … Friday's game against Saint Mary's will be the seventh of eight against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Pointers have beaten Bethel (5-2), Concordia (6-3), Saint John's (5-2), St. Olaf (5-1), and Hamline (6-3), own a 3-3 tie against Gustavus, and still have Augsburg on their schedule. … With their 1-1 tie against Northland on Wednesday, the Pointers pushed their unbeaten streak to seven (5-0-2). … UW-Stevens Point's two losses came in back-to-back games against top-ranked St. Norbert (5-3) and eighth-ranked Adrian (6-3). … Wednesday's game against Northland marked the fourth overtime game of the season for the Pointers—with three of the four ending in ties. UW-Stevens Point beat Lawrence 4-3 in OT on Oct. 29, while tying Gustavus (3-3), Adrian (4-4), and Northland (1-1). … Lawrence Cornellier scored the Pointers' lone goal against Northland Wednesday. … Cornellier's goal against the Lumberjacks was his team-leading 12^th of the season. Cornellier also leads the team with 22 points. … Kyle Sharkey owns a team-best 11 assists, one more than Cornellier. … Cornellier is one of eight Pointers with 10 or more points through 16 games—Jacob Barber (19), Sharkey (16), Eliot Grauer (14), Jono Davis (13), Willem Nong-Lamberg (12), and Tanner Karty (12) are the others. … Cornellier, Barber, and Sharkey all share the team lead with two game-winning goals, while Barber has netted a team-best five power-play goals. … UW-Stevens Point has scored 69 goals through the first 16 games, including 24 on special teams—21 power play tallies and three short-handed goals. … Max Milosek has started 12 of the team's 16 games in goal, compiling a 2.21 goals-against-average and an .899 save percentage. … Jesse Gordichuk has made four starts in goal, and owns a 2.71 GAA and .875 save percentage. … Milosek has recorded two shutouts this season—stopping all 15 shots in a 3-0 win over UW-River Falls on Dec. 2, before adding a 22-save effort in blanking UW-Superior the following night. … UW-Stevens Point has scored first in 13 of its 16 games, going 9-1-3. The Pointers are 2-1-0 when their opponent scores first.