By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team concludes its two-game nonconference series against Lake Forest on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Foresters in a 3 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-6-1 Overall) vs. Lake Forest Foresters (6-2-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Night:
• November 24, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Lake Forest scored four unanswered goals, erasing a 2-1 Saint Mary's second-period lead, as the Foresters dealt the Cardinals a 6-3 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | 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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a pair of home games at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena against Saint John's next weekend. Saint Mary's hosts SJU in a 7 p.m. contest on Friday, before entertaining the Johnnies in the rematch a 2 p.m. the following day.
• Lake Forest: The Foresters return to NCHA play next weekend, traveling to Milwaukee, Wis., for a 7:05 p.m. contest against Milwaukee School of Engineering, before returning home to Lake Forest, Ill., for a 7 p.m. showdown against Concordia (Wis.).
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Lake Forest is the second of five straight home games for the Cardinals. … Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) scored two of Saint Mary's three goals against Lake Forest Friday. Johnson has now scored in back-to-back games and owns three of Saint Mary's last four goals. … Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) picked up assists on all three of the Cardinals' goals against Lake Forest Friday. It was the second time in his collegiate career that he has recorded three assists in a game. … Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) collected an assist on one of the Cardinals' three goals vs. Lake Forest, giving the senior a point in each of the team's last three games. … Heinle leads the team in points  with seven, while sharing the team lead in assists (4) with Walz. … Heinle, Johnson, and Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) have all scored a team-high three goals. … 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 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 29 shots in the Cardinals' 6-3 loss to Lake Forest Friday. … Nick 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 2.77 goals-against-average and .899 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 10 of its 19 goals in the third period. … Saint Mary's has been outscored 10-2 in the first period and 11-7 in the second. … Saint Mary's is 2-1-0 when scoring first, while going 0-5-1 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. … 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. … 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
• Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the third of four straight road games for the Foresters, who are 3-1 at home, while also going 3-1 on the road. … With Friday's 6-3 win over Saint Mary's, Lake Forest pushed its winning streak to five straight. … The Foresters have outscored their opponents 23-6 during their current five-game run. Along with Friday's win, Lake Forest shut 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 six goals against Saint Mary's came from six different players, while the Foresters' seven goals against Marian on Dec. 10 came from six different players. … Joe Sardina owns a team-leading four goals—one more than George Gerasimou, Cody Guidorzi, and Davis DeKorte—while Gerasimou is the team's points leader (9) and shares the team lead in assists (6) with Billy Kent. … Lake Forest's 31 goals have come from 15 different players, while 20 Foresters have collected at least one point. … Lake Forest's six power-play goals this season have come from five different players—led by Charlie Izaguirre with two. … Connor 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 1.58 goals-against-average and .941 save percentage in five starts, with Argiropoulos adding a 2.67 GAA and .882 save percentage in three starts. … De Courcy boasts a team-leading 128 saves. … Lake Forest has outscored its first eight opponents 31-16, including 7-3 in the first period and 14-4 in the second. … The Foresters are 6-0-0 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.