By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals host Concordia in the second game of their two-game conference series. Game time at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena is set for 2 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-4-0 MIAC, 6-8-0 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (4-1-2 MIAC, 7-5-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | Game Program
 
Last Night:
• January 12, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Concordia—fueled by a pair of empty-net goals in the game's final two minutes—dealt the Cardinals a 6-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—A Year Ago:
• December 2, 2016 * Moorhead, Minn.: Saint Mary's pitched a shutout against 17 of Concordia's 18 players in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The 18^th Cobber, however, proved to be a real thorn in the Cardinals' side. Concordia's Tori Davis scored the only goals of the game—one in the second and one in the third—as the Cobbers handed the Cardinals a 2-0 conference setback at the Moorhead Sports Center | Recap
• December 3, 2016 * Moorhead, Minn.: The third period was not kind to Saint Mary's in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia. And neither was Cobber goalie Andrea Klug. The Cobbers erupted for three third-period goals—and for the second straight game, Klug stopped everything the Cardinals threw at her—as Concordia completed its conference sweep with a 5-0 victory over Saint Mary's at the Moorhead Sports Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in conference play next weekend with a pair of games against St. Catherine. Saint Mary's entertains the Wildcats in a 7 p.m. game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, with the two teams heading to Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.
• Concordia: The Cobbers return home to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., for a pair of MIAC games against Saint Benedict next weekend. CC and CSB will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, before returning to the ice for a 2 p.m. matinee the following day.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Concordia is the second of three straight home games for the Cardinals. After winning just once in 12 home games a year ago (1-8-3), three of the Cardinals' six wins this season have come at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With their three goals against Concordia Friday evening, Saint Mary's has now scored three times in each of its last three games. … With their 3-2 win over Lake Forest last Saturday, the Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' 3-2 win over Lake Forest last Saturday snapped a 22-game winless streak against the Foresters (0-17-5). Saint Mary's last win over Lake Forest had been a 2-0 victory on Feb. 13, 2002. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored two goals and Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.) recorded the other against Concordia Friday evening. … The two-goal game was the first of Ryan's collegiate career. … Henderson has now scored in three straight games. … Along with her goals in both games against Lake Forest last weekend, Henderson also had an assist in each game vs. the Foresters—it was her first two multiple-point games of the season, and the 10^th and 11^th of her collegiate career. … Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) heads into Saturday's rematch against Concordia as the team-leader in goals (6) and points (11). … Ryan and Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) are the team-leaders in assists with six, while Ryan and Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) are second to Wendt in points with eight each. … Hafiz moved into second in goals scored—one behind Wendt—with her second-period tally against Lake Forest last Sunday. … Hafiz and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) each recorded two-goal games against Saint Benedict on Dec. 1-2. Cwik scored twice against the Blazers on Dec. 1 to record his first multiple-goal game, while Hafiz scored both goals in Saint Mary's overtime win of the Blazers the following day. It was Hafiz's third two-goal game of her two-year collegiate career. … Ryan assisted on three of the Cardinals' six goals vs. CSB on Dec. 1 en route to her first collegiate three-point game, while Lauren Rogers (Barrington, Ill.) added two assists to her second-period goal for her first three-point game in a Cardinal uniform. … Wendt, 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 Henderson scored three times against Hamline on Feb. 20, 2017. … Mady Bodick (Savage, Minn.) recorded her first collegiate multiple-point game with a goal and an assist vs. St. Thomas on Nov. 11. … Moser assisted on two of the Cardinals' five goals against Marian on Oct. 28, earning the freshman her first collegiate multiple-point game. … Saint Mary's has two players—Bodick and Rogers—who have collected their first collegiate goals this season. … 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.)—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 41 saves in last Sunday's 6-3 loss to Lake Forest. The 41-save effort was four more than Ziakas' previous career-best. … Ziakas has compiled a 3.52 GAA and .900 save percentage in her four starts this season. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.), who made 25 saves against Concordia Friday—has made 30 or more saves five times this season. … Corcoran boasts a 2.42 goals-against-average and a .916 save percentage. … Corcoran made a season-high 36 saves in the Cardinals' 3-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 25. … The Cardinals have now scored 22 goals in their six wins this season, while managing a combined 10 goals in their eight losses. … The Cardinals have netted 12 of their 29 goals in the third period. … The Cardinals are 3-2-0 when scoring first, while going 3-6-0 when their opponent nets the game's first goal. … Saint Mary's 2-1 win over Saint Benedict on Dec. 2 was the first overtime game of the season for the Cardinals, who went 1-1-3 in their five overtime games a year ago. … The Cardinals erupted for a season-high six goals in their 6-2 win over Saint Benedict on Dec. 2. … Saint Mary's six goals vs. the Blazers were the most since the Cardinals scored six times in beating St. Olaf 6-3 on Nov. 17, 2016. … The Cardinals, who snapped a three-game losing streak with their 6-2 win over Saint Benedict on Dec. 1, scored more goals against the Blazers in that Dec. 1 game (6) than they had in the previous five games combined (5). … 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. … 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. … Saint Mary's season-opening 5-3 win over Marian on Oct. 27 was the first collegiate coaching victory for the Cardinals' Greg Moore.
 
Scouting The Concordia Cobbers:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Last weekend's series against UW-River Falls marked the final two nonconference games of the year for Concordia. The Cobbers finished the year with a 3-4-0 mark against non-league teams. … The Cobbers' 10-4 loss to UW-River Falls last Friday snapped their two-game winning streak and four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1). … Prior to their back-to-back lopsided losses to UW-River Falls last weekend, 10 of the Cobbers' first 11 games were decided by two goals or less. … Emily Goff scored two of the Cobbers' six goals against Saint Mary's Friday, while Amanda Flemming, Callie Fagerstrom, Maiah McCowan, and Tori Davis had the others. … Flemming has now had a goal in three straight games. … Flemming had two goals and an assist in the Cobbers' 10-3 loss to UW-River Falls on Jan. 5, and had a goal and two assists vs. the Cardinals on Friday, giving her four three-point games this season. … Flemming's goal against Saint Mary's Friday pushed her team-leading total to 10. … Flemming also leads the team in assists with eight and points with 18. … Three of Flemming's goals have come on the power-play, while she also owns one game-winning goal, one game-tying goal, and one hat trick. … Goff leads the team with three-game-winning goals, one more than Megan Dondelinger. … Amy Jost and Brittany Boss have shared the goaltending duties for the Cobbers. Jost owns a 3.11 goals-against-average and .886 save percentage in seven appearances, while Boss—who made 33 saves against Saint Mary's—has compiled a 3.38 GAA and .888 save percentage in nine appearances. … Boss has made a team-high 214 saves, with Jost close behind with 148. … Eleven of UW-River Falls' 20 goals vs. Concordia last weekend came in the second period, where the Cobbers were outscored 11-2. … The Cobbers have scored first in six of their 14 games this season. CC is 4-2-0 when scoring first, while going 3-3-2 when their opponent scores the game's first goal. … The Cobbers have played two overtime games this season—with both ending in ties. CC tied Bethel 3-3 on Nov. 17 and St. Olaf 2-2 on Dec. 2.