MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown against St. Thomas.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC, 2-0-0 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (0-0-0 MIAC, 4-0-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 27-28, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals kicked off their season with a pair of home wins at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, cruising to a 5-3 victory over Marian, before adding a 3-1 triumph over St. Norbert the following day | Marian Recap * St. Norbert Recap
• St. Thomas—November 3-4, 2017 * Mendota Heights, Minn.: The Tommies picked up a pair of nonconference wins over UW-Stevens Point at the St. Thomas Ice Arena, beating the Pointers 2-1 on Friday, before adding a 4-2 victory the next day | UWSP Recap 1 * UWSP Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—A Year Ago:
• January 13, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: After being shut out in each of its two nonconference games against Lake Forest last weekend, Saint Mary's was in dire need of an offensive jumpstart. And Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) provided just such a spark. The Cardinal senior scored just 30 seconds into the opening period of Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against St. Thomas. Yet, while the Cardinals struck in the game's opening minute, the Tommies waited until the final seconds of regulation—scoring the game-tying goal with 5.3 seconds remaining to lift UST to a 2-2 tie with Saint Mary's at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• January 14, 2017 * Mendota Heights, Minn.: A day after the Cardinals scored the game's first two goals—including one 30 seconds into the opening period—only to have St. Thomas rally for a pair of third-period goals to salvage a 2-2 tie, the two teams were at it again. Only this time it was the Tommies who raced out to the 2-0 lead, only to have the Cardinals return the third-period favor with a pair of goals—including Jane Hannula's (Coon Rapids, Minn.) game-tying tally with less than three minutes remaining—to send the game into overtime deadlocked at 2-2. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this overtime ended 23 seconds earlier than Friday's, as UST's Hannah Bird scored her first of the season to give the Tommies the 3-2 win | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Tommies conclude their two-game conference series on Saturday, heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 2 p.m. MIAC rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• With their win over Marian on Oct. 27, the Cardinals have now won their last three season-openers—including back-to-back victories over the Sabres each of their last two seasons. … The Cardinals are now 2-0-0 to open the second for the second straight year—having also opened the 2016-17 season with back-to-back wins over Marian and St. Norbert. … With their sweep of Marian and St. Norbert on Oct. 27-28, the Cardinals have already surpassed their home win total of a year ago. … Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) recorded her first collegiate hat trick—scoring the Cardinals' first three goals in their 5-3 win over Marian on Oct. 27. The Cardinal junior followed that up with a pair of goals in Saint Mary's 3-1 victory over St. Norbert the following day. … Wendt's hat trick was Saint Mary's first since Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) scored three times against Hamline on Feb. 20, 2017. … Henderson, Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.), and Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' other three goals in their wins over Marian and St. Norbert. … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) assisted on two of the Cardinals' five goals against Marian on Oct. 28, earning the freshman her first collegiate multiple-point game. … Along with her goal, Cwik also recorded an assist in each game vs. Marian and St. Norbert and shares the team lead with Moser and Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.). … Wendt's goal at 19:41 of the first period Friday was the Cardinals' first goal of the season. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.)—who recorded a career-high 56 saves in the Cardinals' 2-0 loss to Gustavus on Feb. 3, 2017—needed to make just seven saves in Saint Mary's 5-3 win over Marian on Oct. 27. … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) picked up the win against St. Norbert in her first collegiate start, stopping 28 of the Green Knights' 29 shots. … Corcoran, who led the team with a 3.01 goals-against-average and .901 save percentage last season, made 30 or more saves in seven of her 13 starts a year ago. … The Cardinals scored first in their win against St. Norbert on Oct. 28, but surrendered the game's first goal in their opener against Marian the night before. … The Cardinals have netted four of their eight goals in the third period. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 3-2 in the first period, 1-0 in the second, and 4-2 in the third
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• The Tommies enter Friday's game against Saint Mary's ranked No. 8 in the latest USCHO.com Poll. … With their wins over UW-Stevens Point last weekend, the Tommies have pushed their season-opening winning streak to four. UST opened the season with back-to-back nonconference wins over Lake Forest. … All four of St. Thomas' wins this season have been decided by two goals or less—including three, one-goal victories. … Five of UST's last six victories—dating back to postseason, have come by one goal. … Kate Winiecki and Rachel Werdin netted St. Thomas' two goals in last Friday's 2-1 win over UW-Stevens Point, while Allison Borgstrom scored twice, and Isabella Bianci and Maddy Fiedler added the other two goals in Saturday's 4-2 victory. … Borgstrom heads into this weekend's two-game series against Saint Mary's as the team's leader in all three offensive categories—goals (4), assists (2), and points (6). … Borgstrom and Fiedler (3) own seven of the Tommies' 11 goals this season—and 10 of the team's 20 points. … St. Thomas' four game-winning goals have come from four different players—Borgstrom, Fiedler, Bianci and Rachel Werdin. … Kenzie Torpy has started three of the team's four games in goal, compiling a 1.34 goals-against-average and a .938 save percentage. Paige Kittelson has started UST's other game, allowing two goals (2.00 GAA) and making 23 saves (.920 save percentage). … The Tommies have scored first in all four of their games this season. … St. Thomas has scored six of its 11 goals in the second period, where the Tommies hold a 6-4 scoring edge. UST has outscored its opponents 2-1 in the first period and 3-1 in the third. … Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the third straight home game for UST, which is 9-5-1 on its home ice over the past two seasons.