By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team steps out of MIAC play for the final time this season, as the Cardinals entertain Ripon in their regular-season home finale Wednesday. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-9-0 Overall) vs. Ripon Red Hawks (7-8-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program | Senior Salute
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 20, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: Macalester scored three unanswered goals, erasing an early 1-0 Cardinal lead, in dealing Saint Mary's a 3-1 conference setback at Macalester Stadium | Recap
• Ripon—October 20 • Beloit, Wis.: The Red Hawks scored the game's only goal early in the second half, as Ripon kept its Midwest Athletic Conference playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Beloit | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Ripon—A Year Ago:
• September 3, 2017 * Ripon, Wis.: For the second game in a row, Saint Mary's got on the board first in its nonconference game against Ripon. Unlike Friday's season-opening, 4-0 victory over Lawrence, however, the Cardinals weren't able to make that lead stand up, as Ripon scored the game's final two goals—including the game-winner in overtime—as the Red Hawks dealt Saint Mary's a 2-1 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out their regular-season schedule on Saturday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against Concordia.
• Ripon: The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, heading to Monmouth, Ill., for a 1:30 p.m. showdown with Monmouth in the teams' regular-season finale.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Wednesday's game is the final home game of the season for the Cardinals — and the final collegiate home game for seniors Maura Michener (Winona, Minn.), Erin McElligott (New York City, N.Y.), Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.), and Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.). … The Cardinals close out the nonconference portion of their schedule with Wednesday's showdown against Ripon. Saint Mary's is 5-1 in non-MIAC contests this season — the lone blemish a 2-0 loss to nationally ranked Loras on Sept. 8. … Last Saturday's 3-1 loss to Macalester snapped the Cardinals' two-game winning streak. … The Cardinals' 3-2 win over Carleton last Wednesday snapped a streak of 16 straight wins in which Saint Mary's held its opponent to one goal or less. … The Cardinals have played two overtime games this season — with both decided by a 3-2 decision. Saint Mary's lost to St. Catherine 3-2 in 2 OTs on Sept. 29, while beating Carleton 3-2 last Wednesday. … Maura Michener (Winona, Minn.) ­— coming off her first collegiate two-goal game in Saint Mary's 4-0 win over Hamline on Oct. 12 — scored her team-leading 10^th goal against Carleton last Wednesday. … Michener's 10 goals are the most in a single season since Emily Loof netted 12 goals during the 2014 campaign. … Mary Loy (Burien, Wash.) has scored goals in back-to-back games — netting the overtime game-winner against Carleton last Wednesday, and adding a first-half tally vs. Macalester three days later. … Loy's overtime goal against Carleton last Wednesday was her team-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season. … Michener— who recorded one goal in her first two seasons combined as a Cardinal — heads into Wednesday's showdown against Ripon leading the team with 22 points. … Loy is second to Michener in both goals (7) and points (16), while Melina Rodriguez (Des Moines, Iowa) leads the team in assists with three — one more than Michener, Loy, Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.), Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.), Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.), and Kendall Archer (Draper, Utah) all share the team lead in assists with two each. … Arriaga owns the Cardinals' two penalty kick goals this season. … Loy posted her first collegiate two-goal game against Lawrence on Sept. 2. … Dup picked up a goal and an assist against Coe on Sept. 9 for her first multiple-point game this season. … Nete Storm Pedersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) scored the Cardinals' goal in their 3-1 loss to Bethel on Sept. 26. It was Storm Pedersen's first collegiate tally. … Storm Pedersen is the fourth Cardinal to net career goal No. 1 this season. Arriaga and Rodriguez netted their first collegiate goals vs. Martin Luther on Aug. 31, while Megan Kowalis (Castle Rock, Colo.) scored her first two collegiate goals against Lawrence two days later. … Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), who has started all 16 games in goal for the Cardinals, needed to make just one save against Hamline on Oct. 13 in recording her third shutout of the season — and seventh of her collegiate career. … Pederson has had to make just two saves — combined — in her three shutouts this season. Along with her one-save effort against Hamline, the junior made one save in blanking Martin Luther on Aug. 31 and did not have to make a stop two days later in shutting out Lawrence two days later. … Pederson equaled her single-season career high with 11 saves against St. Catherine on Sept. 29. … Pederson heads into Wednesday's showdown against Ripon owning a 2.10 goals-against-average and a .688 save percentage. … Pederson has made 75 saves this season. … The Cardinals' seven goals against Lawrence on Sept. 2 were not only a season high, but also the most since scoring 10 in a 10-0 rout of Finlandia on Sept. 9, 2017. … Saint Mary's has scored 21 of its 32 goals in the second half — including six of seven against Lawrence on Sept. 2. … Saint Mary's 2-0 loss to Gustavus on Oct. 9 was just the third time this season the Cardinals have failed to score at least one goal. …  With their win over Coe on Sept. 9, Saint Mary's improved to 4-1-0—equaling its five-game start of a year ago. … The Cardinals' 2-0 loss to No. 22 Loras on Sept. 8 snapped their season-opening three-game winning streak. … The Cardinals' 4-0 win over Martin Luther on Aug. 31 marked the second straight year in which Saint Mary's opened the year with a victory—and the second straight year in which SMU kicked off the year with a 4-0 triumph. Saint Mary's beat Lawrence to open the 2017 campaign.
 
Scouting The Ripon Red Hawks:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back road games to close out the regular season for the Red Hawks, who are 4-2-0 away from home this season. … With Saturday's 1-0 win over Beloit, Ripon improved to 5-3-0 in its last eight games. … Last Saturday's 1-0 victory over Beloit was the Red Hawks' fifth shutout win of the season. … Paige Pierce heads into Wednesday's nonconference matchup against Saint Mary's leading the Red Hawks in goals (14) and points (33). … Maeva Kim is the team's assist leader with seven — one more than Camrie Schmitz and Maggie Bouque. … Ripon boasts four players — Pierce (33), Schmitz (24), Brianna Schnell (20), and Kim (11) — who have accumulated 10 or more points this season. … Pierce has scored a team-high three game-winning goals, with Schitz and Schnell each netting two to account for the Red Hawks other four game-winners. … the Red Hawks have converted just one of four penalty kick opportunities — coming off the foot of Schnell. … Miye Aoki-Kramer has started 15 of the team's 16 games in goal for the Red Hawks, compiling a 1.88 goals-against-average and an .824 save percentage. … Aoki-Kramer has made 108 saves and owns three shutouts. … The Red Hawks have outscored their opponents 40-31 and boast a pair of season-high six-goal games. Ripon beat Illinois College 6-0 on Sept. 30 and blanked Lawrence 6-0 three days later. … Ripon and its opponents have both scored 17 first-half goals, with the Red Hawks owning a 23-14 scoring edge after halftime. … The Red Hawks have played two overtime games this season — falling to UW-Platteville 4-3, while tying UW-Stout 3-3. …