MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season play on Saturday, traveling to Augsburg's Ed Saugestad Rink for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC Playoff semifinal against the second-seeded Auggies.
 
The MIAC Playoff Schedule:
Quarterfinals | Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 |
• No. 5 Concordia at No. 4 Hamline | St. Paul, Minn. | Recap
Semifinals | Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017 |
• No. 4/5 Winner at No. 1 St. Thomas | Mendota Heights, Minn. | 7 p.m.
• No. 3 Saint Mary's at No. 2 Augsburg | Minneapolis, Minn. | 7:30 p.m.
Championship | Saturday, March 4, 2017 |
Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed | Location/Time: TBA 

GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | MIAC Playoff Homepage
 
How They Got Here:
• Augsburg: The Auggies closed out the regular season with 33 conference points, three points back of regular-season champion St. Thomas to lock down the No. 2 seed. The Auggies boasted a 9-2-5 record in conference play.
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals finished 9-6-1 in league play for 29 points, a third-place regular-season finish and the No. 3 seed in the five-team playoff field.
 
Saint Mary's Last Action:
• February 10-11, 2017 * St. Cloud, Minn.: The Cardinals locked up their second MIAC Playoff berth in the last three years, getting the game-winning goal from Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) 1:54 into overtime to beat the Johnnies 3-2 on Feb. 10. SJU scored three, third-period goals to clip the Cardinals 5-4 in the teams' rematch a day later | SJU Recap 1 * SJU Recap 2
 
Augsburg's Last Action:
• February 17-18, 2017 * St. Cloud, Minn./Minneapolis, Minn.: The Auggies split their final regular-season conference series, beating Saint John's 5-1 at the National Hockey Center last Friday, before falling to the Johnnies 4-2 a day later at Ed Saugestad Rink | SJU Recap 1 * SJU Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—Earlier This Year:





• January 27, 2017 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Saint Mary's found itself playing catch-up through the first 40 minutes of its MIAC 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
• January 28, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: For two periods, the rematch between Saint Mary's and Augsburg at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena proved to be a rather defensive battle—with the Auggies clinging to a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. And what a third period it proved to be. The two teams combined for five goals in the first six minutes—and seven goals overall in the game's final 20-minutes. And when the dust finally cleared, the two teams settled for a wild, 5-5 overtime tie—with Saint Mary's gaining the extra conference point, thanks to a pair of goals in the four-round shootout | Recap
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Cardinals are making their second MIAC Playoff appearance in the last three seasons. Saint Mary's reached the MIAC Playoff championship game in 2015, falling to Hamline 4-2. … Saint Mary's heads into post-season play having won three of their last four games, while going 3-1-1 in their last five. … The Cardinals are 11-0-0 when holding their opponent to two goals or less. Saint Mary's is 2-9-3 when allowing three or more goals. … With their 3-2 overtime win over Saint John's on Feb. 10, the Cardinals picked up their 13^th win of the season—marking the second time in the last three years Saint Mary's has won 12 or more games. … The Cardinals' 3-2 win over Saint John's on Feb. 10 snapped a nine-game overtime winless streak (0-4-5). The Cardinals' last OT win was a 4-3, double-overtime victory over Concordia in the 2015 MIAC Playoffs. … Saint Mary's has played seven overtime games 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, falling to both St. Thomas and UW-Stout by 6-5 counts, tying Augsburg 5-5, and beating Saint John's 3-2. … 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. … Kinne's 13 goals are a career high, while his 23 points mark the third straight season he has recorded at least 20 points. … With his first-period assist on Kinne's goal against UW-Stout on Jan. 14, Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) reached the 100 career-point milestone. Gruse heads into the post-season with 107 career points. … Walz—who scored in both games in the Cardinals' split against Saint John's in their regular-season finale—shares the team lead in assists (13) with Gruse. … Gruse is second to Kinne in points with 21. … Kinne and Gruse are two of nine Cardinals who have recorded 10 or more points this season. Walz (19), Jay Heinle (York, Pa. / 18), Cesarz (18), Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill. / 17), Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn. / 16), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo. / 13), and Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis. / 12) are the others. … Walz 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 84 goals have come from 19 different players—including collegiate firsts from Michael Amelio (Venetia, Pa.), Seth Kamrass (Peachtree Corners, Ga.), Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Dylan Robertson (Darien, Ill.), Meeh, 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. … Saint Mary's boasts six players who have recorded multiple-goal games this season—led by Cesarz, Albergo, and Heinle, who have each achieved the feat twice. Kinne and Walz are the other two. … Albergo's two-goal effort against Hamline on Jan. 21 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. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) made a season-high 44 saves in the Cardinals' 3-2 overtime win over Saint John's on Feb. 10, while Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) recorded a career-best 50 saves in the Cardinals' rematch with the Johnnies a day later. … Heinle has made 35 or more saves four times this season—kicking out 35 shots in a 5-5 tie vs. Augsburg, while stopping 38 against both Bethel and defending national champion UW-Stevens Point. … Davis picked up his first collegiate shutout, making 31 saves in a 2-0 win over Gustavus on Feb. 4. … Heinle also owns one shutout win this season—a 25-save showing against St. Olaf on Nov. 19. … Davis made 28 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 5 en route to his first win in a Cardinal uniform. … Davis heads into post-season action owning a team-best 2.79 goals-against-average and .910 save percentage, with Heinle close behind with a 3.11 GAA and .897 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 has played five games against nationally ranked teams this season—going 0-1-1 against No. 11 Augsburg last weekend, while also beating then-No. 3 UW-Stevens Point and splitting with then-No. 15 St. Thomas. … With their Jan. 13 game against UW-Stevens Point, the Cardinals have faced the NCAA's 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 on Jan. 6-7, and a 3-3 tie at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase. … With their 5-5 deadlock against Augsburg on Jan. 28, Saint Mary's became the last team in the MIAC to record a tie. … Saint Mary's 2-1 shootout win over the Auggies on Jan. 28 was the Cardinals' first SO win since beating Saint John's 2-1 in a shootout on Nov. 21, 2014. … Eleven of the Cardinals' 25 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals have scored first in 15 of their 25 games this season—including 10 of their 13 wins. Saint Mary's is 10-4-1 when scoring first, and 3-5-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … 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
• The Auggies enter post-season play as the defending MIAC Playoff champions, having beaten Saint John's 5-4 in a thrilling, triple-overtime matchup in the title game. … Last season's MIAC Playoff championship was Augsburg's second in program history, the first coming in 1998. The Auggies also made the programs third NCAA Division III national tournament appearance a year ago. … Eric Brenk enters Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading 15 goals, while Rory Vesel is the team's assist leader (14) and Nate Flynn boasts a team-high 27 points. … Flynn is one of 14 Auggies with 10 or more points this season—Chapman (23), Brenk (21), Luke Dietsch (19), Vesel (18), Evan Hesse (16), Lukas Gillett (15), Max Pernhem (14), Trevor Stewart (13), Drew Anderson (13), Dylan Meier (13), Will Peterson (12), Eli May (12), and Chris Nuth (12) are the others. … Brenk (15) and Flynn (14) are the only Auggies with 10 or more goals, while eight different Augsburg players have recorded 10 or more assists. … Augsburg has had a multiple-goal scorer in nine of its 25 games—including four, two-goal games by Brenk. … Twenty-seven of the Auggies' 98 goals have come via special teams—22 power-play and five shorthanded. … Brenk and Dietsch lead the team with five power-play goals each, while Brenk also owns four game-winning tallies. … Nick Schmit and Jordyn Kaufer have shared the goaltending duties for the Auggies. Kaufer owns a 2.95 goals-against-average and .898 save percentage in 15 starts, while Schmit boasts a 1.83 GAA and .940 save percentage in 12 appearances (10 starts). … Kaufer has made a team-high 379 saves, with Schmit close behind with 312. … Kaufer has been in goal for four of the team's six ties. … Concordia has scored eight or more goals twice this season—beating UW-Superior 8-4, while netting a season-high 10 goals in a 10-2 win over Concordia. … The Auggies have played six overtime games this season—with all six ending in ties. … Augsburg's regular season-ending 4-2 loss to Saint John's last Saturday snapped the Auggies' nine-game unbeaten streak (5-0-4) and their 11-game MIAC unbeaten streak (6-0-5). … Augsburg heads into Saturday's home playoff semifinal game against Saint Mary's boasting a 6-2-3 record at home—the Auggies are 9-2-3 away from Ed Saugestad Rink this season.