WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Augsburg on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Auggies in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-5-0 MIAC, 10-8-2 Overall) vs. #11 Augsburg Auggies (7-1-1 MIAC, 13-3-2 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• Saint Mary's found itself playing catch-up through the first 40 minutes of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against league-leading Augsburg. Down 2-0 early, the Cardinals netted back-to-back goals to head into the locker room tied 2-2 after the first period. Down 3-2 six minutes into the second period, the Cardinals once again "caught up," scoring six minutes later to once again head into the locker room tied—this time 3-3 after two. Unfortunately, the Cardinals fell behind again in the third, but were not able to net the equalizer, as the 11^th-ranked Auggies handed Saint Mary's a 4-3 setback at Ed Saugestad Rink | Recap
 
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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in conference action next weekend with a pair of games against Gustavus. Saint Mary's will host the Gusties in a 7 p.m. contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, before heading to Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn., for the 7:05 p.m. rematch a day later.
• Augsburg: The Auggies are back in action next weekend, squaring off against Hamline in a pair of MIAC contests. Augsburg heads to Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Pipers on Friday, before returning home to Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Saturday's game against Augsburg is one of just two remaining home games for the Cardinals, who will play three of their final five games on the road. … 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 slipped to 2-8-2 in games in which the Cardinals allow three or more goals with Friday's 4-3 loss at Augsburg. … Saint Mary's has surrendered 23 goals in its last four losses—Friday's 4-3 loss to Augsburg, a 7-2 setback against Hamline, and 6-5 overtime losses to UW-Stout and St. Thomas. … Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.), and Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored the Cardinals' three goals in Friday's 4-3 loss to league-leading Augsburg. … Saint Mary's boasts six players who have recorded multiple-goal games this season—led by Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.), and Jay Heinle (York, Pa.), who have each achieved the feat twice. Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Walz 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 on Jan. 14, Gruse reached the 100 career-point milestone. Gruse heads into Saturday's rematch against Augsburg with 1012career points. … Kinne enters Saturday's game against Augsburg leading the team in goals (11)—one more than Cesarz—and points (20). … Kinne has scored a goal in five of the Cardinals' last nine games—and in 10 of the team's 20 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 and Gruse are second to Kinne in points with 16—the trio are three of eight Cardinals who have recorded 10 or more points this season. Walz (15), Cesarz (14), Heinle (13), Portner (13), and Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis. / 11) are the others. … Walz, who has recorded an assist in four of the team's last eight 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 67 goals have come from 17 different players—including collegiate firsts from Seth Kamrass (Peachtree Corners, Ga.), 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 28 saves against Augsburg Friday. … 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 Saturday's game against Augsburg owning a team-best 2.85 goals-against-average and .896 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 games against No. 11 Augsburg this weekend mark the fourth and five games against nationally ranked teams this season. Saint Mary's has already beaten then-No. 3 UW-Stevens Point and split with then-No. 15 St. Thomas. … 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 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' 20 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals have scored first in 11 of their 20 games this season—including eight of their 10 wins. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 26-17 in the first period, while holding 23-22 scoring edge in the second periods. … 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 was the third straight home game for the Auggies, who are 7-1-1 at Ed Saugestad Rink this season. … With Friday's 4-3 win over Saint Mary's, Augsburg pushed its winning streak to three straight, while the Auggies are also 5-1-1 in their last six contests—the lone loss, a 5-2 loss to defending national champion UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 14. … The Auggies have scored four or more goals in nine of their 13 wins, including each of their last five 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. … Eric Brenk scored a pair of goals against Saint Mary's Friday, while Paul Soubry and Lukas Gillett netted the other two. … Nate Flynn enters Saturday's game against Saint Mary's as the team leader in both goals (9) and points (16). … Rory Vesel owns a team-best 13 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 18 games. … Trevor Stewart leads the Auggies with three game-winning goals, one more than Flynn and Brenk. … 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—who made 26 saves against Saint Mary's Friday—has compiled a 2.47 GAA and .914 save percentage in nine starts. … Schmit has stopped 241 of the 255 shots he's faced, with Kaufer close behind with 254 saves on 278 shots. … Schmit's 1.65 GAA and .945 save percentage are both tops among MIAC goalies. … The Auggies have allowed just six power-play goals in 77 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 69-40 margin this season—both the most goals scored among MIAC teams and the fewest goals allowed. … The Auggies have scored nearly half of their 69 goals in the second period, where they hold a 32-12 scoring advantage. … The Auggies have scored first in 12 of their 18 games, boasting an 11-1-0 record in those 12 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).