MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey kicks off its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Augsburg on Friday, as the Cardinals travel to Ed Saugestad Rink for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Auggies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4-0 MIAC, 10-7-2 Overall) at #11 Augsburg Auggies (6-1-1 MIAC, 12-3-2 Overall)
 
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• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—January 20-21, 2017 * Winona, Minn./St. Paul, Minn.: Saint Mary's split its two conference games against Hamline last weekend, beating the Pipers 3-1 on their home ice at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena last Friday, before dropping a 7-2 decision at Oscar Johnson Arena the following evening | HU Recap 1 * HU Recap 2
• Augsburg—January 20-21, 2017 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Auggies picked up a pair of convincing wins over Concordia last weekend at Ed Saugestad Rink, rolling to a 4-1 win last Friday, before erupting for 10 goals in a 10-2 rout the following afternoon | CC Recap 1 * CC Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—A Year Ago:
• January 29, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Augsburg scored four unanswered goals—including three in the first period—in handing the Cardinals a 4-1 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• January 30, 2016 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg scored two goals in the second period and three more in the third in handing the Cardinals a 5-0 conference setback at Ed Saugestad Rink | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Auggies square off again Saturday in the second game of the teams' two-game MIAC series, heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. matchup.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Beginning with last Saturday's game at Hamline, the Cardinals will play five of their final seven games away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With their split against Hamline last weekend, the Cardinals head into their series against Augsburg having won three of their last five—and five of their last eight. … With their 3-1 win over Hamline, the Cardinals improved to 8-0-0 when holding their opponent to two goals or less. On the flip side, Saint Mary's is just 2-7-2 in games in which the Cardinals allow three or more goals. … Saint Mary's has surrendered 19 goals in its last three losses—a 7-2 setback against Hamline, and 6-5 overtime losses to UW-Stout and St. Thomas. … Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) accounted for three of the Cardinals' five goals against Hamline last weekend. The junior scored once in Saint Mary's 3-1 win over the Pipers last Friday, before scoring both goals in Saint Mary's 7-2 loss to HU a day later. … Seth Kamrass (Peachtree Corners, Ga.) and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) scored Saint Mary's other two goals vs. Hamline last weekend. … Cesarz has now scored four goals in the Cardinals' last four games—having scored twice in Saint Mary's 4-2 win over UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 13, and adding another vs. UW-Stout the following day. … Saint Mary's boasts six players who have recorded multiple-goal games this season—led by Cesarz, Albergo, and Jay Heinle (York, Pa.), who have each achieved the feat twice. Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) are the other two. … Albergo's two-goal effort against Hamline last Saturday was his sixth career multiple-goal game. Cesarz and Heinle each own five career-multiple-goal games, while Kinne has four. Walz's two-goal effort against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 was the first multiple-goal game of his career. … With his first-period assist on Kinne's goal against UW-Stout last Saturday, Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) reached the 100 career-point milestone. Gruse added a third-period goal and heads into this weekend's games against Augsburg with 101 career points. … Kinne enters Saint Mary's series with Augsburg leading the team in goals (11)—one more than Cesarz—and points (19). … Kinne has scored a goal in five of the Cardinals' last eight games—and in 10 of the team's 19 contests this season. … Kinne had a hand in five of the Cardinals' seven goals against St. Thomas on Jan. 6-7. The senior scored twice­—including forcing overtime with 16 seconds remaining in regulation—and added an assist in the 6-5 OT loss on Jan. 6, before assisting on Saint Mary's first goal, and scoring the game-winner midway through the second period, in the 2-1 win a day later. … 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. … Walz owns a team-high 11 assists, one more than both Gruse and Albergo. … Albergo is second to Kinne in points with 16—the pair are two of eight Cardinals who have recorded 10 or more points this season. Gruse (15), Walz (14), Cesarz (13), Heinle (13), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn. / 12), and Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis. / 11) are the others. … Walz, who has recorded an assist in four of the team's last seven games, 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 64 goals have come from 17 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.). … 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. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) finished with 21 saves against Hamline Friday for his fourth win in six starts in goal this season. … Davis made 28 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 en route to his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) equaled his season-high with 38 saves in the Cardinals' 4-2 win over defending national champion UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 13—the senior also stopped 38 shots against Bethel on Nov. 12. … Heinle made 25 saves against St. Olaf on Nov. 19 en route to his first shutout of the season—and fourth of his career. … Davis heads into this weekend's games against Augsburg owning a team-best 2.66 goals-against-average and .900 save percentage, with Heinle close behind with a 3.25 GAA and .899 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. … Saint Mary's game against No. 3 UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 13 marked the Cardinals' third straight game against a nationally ranked team—Saint Mary's split with No. 15 St. Thomas the previous weekend, falling 6-5 in overtime and winning 2-1. … With their Jan. 13 game against UW-Stevens Point, the Cardinals have faced a defending national champion three times in the last six seasons, going 2-1. Along with their 4-2 win over the Pointers—last season's national champs—the Cardinals beat national St. Norbert 3-2 during the 2011-12 season, while falling to the then-two-time defending national champion Green Knights 12-2 the following year. … With their 2-1 win over league-leading and 15^th-ranked St. Thomas on Jan. 7, 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. … Saint Mary's 6-5 loss to UW-Stout on Jan. 14 marked the fifth time this season the Cardinals have gone into overtime this season—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 and falling to St. Thomas 6-5 on Jan. 6. … With their 6-5 loss to UW-Stout on Jan. 14, Saint Mary's is now 0-4-4 in its last eight 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' 17 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals have scored first in 11 of their 19 games this season—including eight of their 10 wins. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 24-15 in the first period, while holding 22-21 and 18-17 scoring edges in the second and third periods, respectively. … 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the third straight home game for the Auggies, who are 6-1-1 at Ed Saugestad Rink this season. … Augsburg heads into this weekend's games against Saint Mary's having won two straight, while going 4-1-1 in its last six—the lone loss, a 5-2 loss to defending national champion UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 14. … The Auggies have scored four of more goals in eight of their 12 wins, including each of their last four victories. … Augsburg's 10-goal performance in last Saturday's 10-2 rout of Concordia was a season high—and the most since a 10-2 win at Concordia on Feb. 25, 2006. … Seven of the Auggies' 10 goals against Concordia last Saturday came in the second period. … Fifteen of the Auggies' 18 skaters recorded at least one point vs. the Cobbers last Saturday. … Nate Flynn enters this weekend's games against Saint Mary's as the team leader in both goals (9) and points (16). … Rory Vesel owns a team-best 12 assists. … Nineteen different Auggies have scored goals for the Auggies this season, and 22 different Auggies have notched at least one point. … Ten Auggies have recorded 10 or more points through 17 games. … Trevor Stewart leads the Auggies with three game-winning goals, one more than Flynn. … Nick Schmit and Jordyn Kaufer have shared the goaltending duties this season, with both appearing in nine games. Schmit owns a 1.65 goals-against-average and .945 save percentage in eight starts, while Kaufer has compiled a 2.41 GAA and .916 save percentage in nine starts. … Schmit has stopped 241 of the 255 shots he's faced, with Kaufer close behind with 228 saves on 249 shots. … Schmit's 1.65 GAA and .945 save percentage are both tops among MIAC goalies. … The Auggies have allowed just five power-play goals in 72 opportunities this season—with their .931 penalty-kill percentage ranking No. 1 among MIAC teams, and No. 2 in all of NCAA Division III. … 
Augsburg has outscored its opponents by a 65-37 margin this season—both the most goals scored among MIAC teams and the fewest goals allowed. … The Auggies have scored nearly half of their 65 goals in the second period, where they hold a 31-11 scoring advantage. … The Auggies have scored first in 11 of their 17 games, boasting a 10-1-0 record in those 11 contests. Augsburg is 2-2-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … Augsburg is unbeaten in its three overtime games this season—beating UW-Eau Claire 2-1, and tying both Hamline (2-2) and Bethel (5-5).