By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Saint Benedict on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to Dave Torrey Ice Arena for a 4 p.m. matchup against the Blazers.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-3-0 MIAC * 4-4-0 Overall) at Saint Benedict Blazers (0-4-1 MIAC * 0-6-1 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• December 1, 2017 * St. Cloud, Minn.: The Cardinals erupted for a season-high six goals—including a pair from Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.)—as Saint Mary's rolled to a 6-2 conference win over Saint Benedict at Dave Torrey Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict—A Year Ago:
• February 10, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: After failing to score in either of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games against Gustavus last weekend, the Cardinals erupted for three goals in the game's first 12 minutes in their conference showdown with Saint Benedict at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. The Blazers, however, scored the next three goals—including the game-tying tally 1:31 into the third period—to force overtime. Fortunately for Saint Mary's, the vaunted first-period offense reappeared in overtime, as Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) unloaded a blistering slap shot from the point that beat CSB goalie Julia Carle just 47 seconds into the extra period—and lifted the Cardinals to the 4-3 victory | Recap
• February 11, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's had so much fun playing an overtime period in Friday's 4-3 victory over Saint Benedict, the Cardinals decided to put in a little OT again in the teams' rematch. This time, however, the Cardinals would have to settle for a tie, as Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict battled to a 2-2 deadlock at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play next Friday, returning home to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Stevens Point.
• Saint Benedict: The Blazers hit the road next weekend for a pair of nonconference games, traveling to Ashland, Wis., to take on Northland. Friday's game is slated for a 7 p.m. opening face-off, with Saturday's rematch set for 4 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• The Cardinals erupted for a season-high six goals in their 6-2 win over Saint Benedict Friday night. … Saint Mary's six goals vs. the Blazers were the most since the Cardinals scored six times in beating St. Olaf on Nov. 17, 2016. … The Cardinals, who snapped a three-game losing streak with Friday's win, scored more goals against the Blazers (6) than they have in the previous five games combined (5). … The winner in five of the Cardinals' first eight games scored three goals, including four of Saint Mary's last five contests—a 3-1 win over St. Thomas, 3-1 and 3-0 losses to Augsburg, and a 3-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire. The winner scored five goals in Saint Mary's other two games—a 5-2 win over Marian and a 5-0 loss to St. Thomas. … Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) scored twice against Saint Benedict Friday, while Hailey Nadeau (Cottage Grove, Minn.), Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill.), Lauren Rogers (Barrington, Ill.), and Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) scored the others. … The goals by Nadeau and Rogers were the first of their collegiate careers. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) assisted on three of the Cardinals' six goals vs. CSB Friday en route to her first collegiate three-point game, while Rogers added two assists to her second-period goal for her first multiple-point game in a Cardinal uniform. … Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.), who scored her team-leading sixth goal against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 25, has scored more goals this season (6) than she had in her first two collegiate seasons combined (5). … Wendt 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. … Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.) collected her second collegiate two-goal game in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over nationally ranked St. Thomas on Nov. 11. … Mady Bodick (Savage, Minn.), whose third-period goal against St. Thomas on Nov. 11 was the first of her collegiate career, also had an assist for her first collegiate multiple-point game. … 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. … Wendt heads into Saturday's rematch at Saint Benedict as the team-leader in goals (6) and points (7). … Ryan leads the team in assists with five, one more than Moser. … Wendt's goal at 19:41 of the first period against Marian on Oct. 27 was the Cardinals' first goal of the season. … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) made 20 saves against Saint Benedict Friday. … Ziakas—who picked up the win against St. Norbert in her first collegiate start on Oct. 28, stopping 28 of the Green Knights' 29 shots—made a career-high 37 saves in the Cardinals' 5-0 loss to St. Thomas on Nov. 10. … Ziakas has compiled a 2.67 GAA and .914 save percentage in her two starts this season. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing Minn.) made a season-high 36 saves in the Cardinals' 3-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire last Saturday. It was the second time this season the sophomore has made 30 or more saves in a game. … Corcoran heads into Saturday's game against Saint Benedict boasting a 2.43 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage. … The Cardinals have netted nine of their 19 goals in the third period. … With their wins over Marian and St. Norbert in their first two games of the season, the Cardinals opened their season 2-0-0 for the second straight year—having also opened the 2016-17 season with back-to-back wins over Marian and St. Norbert. … The Cardinals' 5-0 loss to St. Thomas on Nov. 10 snapped their season-opening two-game winning streak. … 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. … After winning just once in 12 home games a year ago (1-8-3), all three of the Cardinals' wins this season have come at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. …
 
Scouting The Saint Benedict Blazers:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• With Friday's 6-2 loss to Saint Mary's, the Blazers are still searching for their first win of the season (0-6-1). … The Blazers' 3-3 tie against St. Olaf on Nov. 18 snapped their season-opening five-game losing streak. … Saint Benedict scored more goals in its two-game MIAC series against St. Olaf on Nov. 17-18 (4) than the Blazers had in their first four games combined (3). … After managing just one goal in their first three games, CSB has netted eight goals in its last four. … Brigette Miller scored both of Saint Benedict's goals in Friday's 6-2 loss to Saint Mary's. … With her two goals vs. the Cardinals, Miller pushed her team goal-scoring lead to three. …
Shelby Schneider, Mariah Reed, Maria Wallace, Jessica Malloy, Kennedy Hageness, and Riley Schneider have accounted for the Blazers' other six goals. … Riley Schneider assisted on both of Miller's goals vs. Saint Mary's, pushing her team lead to three. … Julia Carle—who stopped 68 shots in the Blazers' two games against St. Olaf last weekend—finished with 28 shots against Saint Mary's Friday. … Carle has started six of CSB's seven games in goal, compiling a 4.89 goals-against-average and an .881 save percentage. … Kailee Medved owns CSB's other start in goal and owns a 3.79 GAA and .884 save percentage. … Carle has made 207 saves through seven games this season. … The Blazers have converted on just 2 of 25 power-play opportunities, while their opponents have gone 8-for-26. … The Blazers have been outscored 34-9—9-2 in the first period, 14-6 in the second, and 11-1 in the third. … Saint Benedict has scored first just once this season. CSB is 0-1-0 when scoring the game's first goal, while going 0-5-1 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.