By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team steps out of conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals host Lake Forest in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-5-1 Overall) vs. Lake Forest Foresters (5-2-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: November 17-18, 2017 * Winona, Minn./Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals drop both of its conference game's against nationally ranked Augsburg, falling to the Auggies 5-1 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena last Friday, before dropping a second straight 5-1 decision the following evening at Ed Saugestad Rink | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
• Lake Forest: November 18, 2017 * Chicago, Ill.: Foresters erupted for seven goals in cruising to a 7-1 nonconference win over Aurora at Johnny's Ice House in Chicago, Ill. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Lake Forest—Their Last Meeting:
• November 29, 2013 * Winona, Minn.: A week ago, Jonathon Elliott (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) recorded the first multiple-point game of his collegiate career, assisting on two of Saint Mary's three goals in its 4-3 conference loss to Saint John's. And a week later, he was at it again. Elliott scored his first collegiate goal midway through the first period in helping the Cardinals to a 2-1 nonconference win over Lake Forest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• November 30, 2013 * Winona, Minn.: New day, same score, same outcome—much to the delight of Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. The Cardinals, coming off a heart-stopping, 2-1 nonconference win over the Foresters the previous evening, Saint Mary's was at it again in the rematch. And the end result … Another 2-1 Cardinal win | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Foresters return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday, concluding their two-game series with a 3 p.m. nonconference showdown.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• Last Saturday's game against Augsburg was the last road game of the first semester for the Cardinals, who play their final five contests on their home ice—beginning Friday evening against Lake Forest. … Last weekend's two contests against third-ranked Augsburg were the third and fourth straight games against nationally ranked opponents for the Cardinals, who faced No. 5 UW-Stevens Point and No. 11 UW-Eau Claire the previous weekend. … Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) scored the Cardinals' lone goal in last Friday's 5-1 loss to the Auggies, while Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) netted Saint Mary's goal in the Cardinals' rematch with the Auggies the following day, also a 5-1 Augsburg win. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) picked up assists on both of the Cardinals' goals against Augsburg last weekend, giving the senior a team-leading six points, one more than Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.). … Stang and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) each scored twice in Saint Mary's 5-4 loss to No. 11 UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 11. Cesarz's two-goal effort against UW-Eau Claire was his sixth career multiple-goal game—including five two-goal showings—while Stang's was the first of his collegiate career. … Stang also picked up a pair of assists against the Blugolds on Nov. 11 en route to his first collegiate four-point game. … Heinle and Stang share the team lead in goals (3), while Heinle and Jude Warner (Pickerington, Ohio) share team lead in assists (3). … Heinle and Ben Owen (Allen, Texas) own the Cardinals' two game-winning goals. … Saint Mary's has scored four power play goals—two from Cesarz, and one from both Owen and Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.). …  Johnson scored the Cardinals' first shorthanded goal of the season in last Saturday's 5-1 loss to Augsburg. … The Cardinals boast two players—Stang and Owen—who have scored their first collegiate goals this season. Stang's came against St. Thomas on Nov. 3, while Owen's was against Bethel on Oct. 29. … Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) stopped 18 shots in the Cardinals' 5-1 loss to Augsburg last Friday, while Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) made 24 saves in the teams' rematch the following day. … Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) made his first collegiate start in goal in the Cardinals' 5-4 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 11, finishing with 41 saves. The freshman finished with 41 saves against the Blugolds. … Davis has started six of the team's eight games in goal, compiling a 2.36 goals-against-average and .910 save percentage, while Nast boasts a 5.06 GAA and .897 save percentage. … Davis picked up his first collegiate shutout, making 31 saves in a 2-0 win over Gustavus on Feb. 4, 2017, while stopping 28 shots en route to his first win as a Cardinal on Nov. 5, 2016. … Saint Mary's scored more empty net goals against St. Thomas on Nov. 3 (2) than the Cardinals netted all of last season (1). … Stang's goal at 7:18 of the first period against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 11 is the Cardinals' only first-period goal of the season. … Saint Mary's has scored nine of its 16 goals in the third period. … Saint Mary's has been outscored 9-1 in the first period and 8-6 in the second. … Saint Mary's is 2-1-0 when scoring first, while going 0-4-1 when its opponent scores the game's opening goal. … Saint Mary's 1-1 tie with St. Thomas on Nov. 4 was its first overtime game of the season. The Cardinals played eight OT games a year ago, going 1-4-3. … The Cardinals held each of their first four opponents to just one goal. … The Cardinals are 11-1-1 in the last 13 games in which they limit their opponent to two goals or less. … The Cardinals made their second MIAC Playoff appearance in the last three seasons a year ago, falling to eventual playoff champion Augsburg 5-4 in overtime in the semifinals. Saint Mary's reached the MIAC Playoff championship game in 2015, falling to Hamline 4-2.
 
Scouting The Lake Forest Foresters:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of four straight road games for the Foresters, who are 3-1 at home, while going 2-1 on the road. … With their convincing 7-1 win over Aurora last Saturday, Lake Forest pushed its winning streak to four straight. … The Foresters have outscored their opponents 17-3 during their current four-game run—shutting out St. Scholastica 1-0, while limiting Marian, Lawrence, and Aurora to one goal each in 3-1, 6-1, and 7-1 wins. … Lake Forest's seven goals against Marian—a season-high—came from six different players. Joe Sardina scored twice, while George Gerasimou, Davis DeKorte, Austin Aksoy, Charlie Izaguirre, and Billy Kent accounted for the others. … Sardina owns a team-leading four goals, while A Aksoy is the team-leader in assists (5) and Gerasimou has amassed a team-best seven points. … Lake Forest's 25 goals have come from 14 different players, while 18 Foresters have collected at least one point. … Lake Forest's five power-play goals this season have come from five different players—Aksoy, DeKorte, Izaguirre, Kent, and Connor Duncan—while Duncan owns the team's lone shorthanded goal. … Louis-Phillippe De Courcy and George Argiropoulos have shared the goaltending duties this season, with De Courcy compiling a 1.23 goals-against-average and .954 save percentage in four starts, with Argiropoulos adding a 2.67 GAA and .882 save percentage in three starts. … De Courcy boasts a team-leading 104 saves. … Lake Forest has outscored its first seven opponents 25-13, including 6-2 in the first period and 11-4 in the second. … The Foresters are 5-0-0 when scoring first, while losing both games in which their opponent nets the game's first goal. … Lake Forest has played one overtime game this season, falling to UW-Eau Claire 3-2 on Oct. 28.