By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team steps of out conference play on Saturday, traveling to Hobbs Ice Center for a 7 p.m. nonconference showdown with 10th-ranked UW-Eau Claire.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-4-1 Overall) at #10 UW-Eau Claire Blugolds (6-0-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Night:
• Saint Mary's: November 9, 2018 * Stevens Point, Wis.: UW-Stevens Point scored three of the game's first four goals and held off a third-period Saint Mary's rally, as the Pointers dealt the Cardinals a 3-2 nonconference setback at K.B. Willett Arena | Recap
• UW-Eau Claire: November 9, 2018 * Eau Claire, Wis.: UW-Eau Claire scored a pair of second-period goals in staying perfect on the season with a 2-1 win over St. Thomas at Hobbs Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Eau Claire — Their Last Meeting:
• November 11, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals and Blugolds combined for six goals over the game's final 20 minutes, and — unfortunately for Saint Mary's — when the dust finally settled, it was the Blugolds who escaped with the win. Jesse Tredinick scored his second goal of the game with 5:28 remaining in regulation to break a 4-4 tie and lift the 11th-ranked Blugolds to a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend for a pair of games against nationally ranked Augsburg. Saint Mary's travels to Augsburg's Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, with the two teams heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.
• UW-Eau Claire: The Blugolds hit the road next weekend for two nonconference games. UW-EC squares off against St. Norbert in Ashwaubenon, Wis., at 7 p.m. on Friday, before heading to Appleton, Wis., for a 7 p.m. matchup against Lawrence the following evening.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Last Saturday's game against St. Thomas was the home opener for the Cardinals, who play 10 of their first 12 games away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With Friday's 3-2 loss to top-ranked UW-Stevens Point, three of the Cardinals' first five games have been decided by one goal or less, while the other two were decided by two goals — including an empty-net goal in each. … Saint Mary's scored three goals in both of its games against No. 15 St. Thomas last weekend — and have scored three times in three of their last four contests. … Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario) and Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) scored the Cardinals' two goals in Friday's 3-2 loss to UW-Stevens Point. … Liverance has now scored in three straight games, while DiBacco has scored in back-to-back contests. … Liverance had a hand in all three goals — scoring once and assisting on the other two — in Saint Mary's 5-3 loss to the Tommies last Saturday. … All three of the Cardinals' goals in their 3-3 tie against #15 St. Thomas on Nov. 2 were scored by freshmen. Liverance picked up his first two collegiate goals, while fellow freshman Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.) scored the other. … Liverance and Hatton were at it again in last Saturday's rematch with the Tommies, as Liverance netted his team-leading third goal and Hatton added his second in a Cardinal uniform. … Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.) is the third Cardinal to net his first collegiate goal this season, finding the back of the net against Concordia on Oct. 27. … Liverance heads into Saturday's showdown against No. 10 UW-Eau Claire owning the team lead in both goals (4) and points (6). … DiBacco, Hatton and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) are second to Liverance in goals with two each, while Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) picked up a pair of assists against UW-Stevens Point Friday to push his team-leading assist total to five. … Robertson has not posted back-to-back two-assist games. … Saint Mary's has netted three power-play goals through five games this season — led by two from Hatton. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) made 32 saves against UW-Stevens Point Friday and has made 30 or more saves in all three of his starts in goal this season. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.), meanwhile, finished with 23 saves in Saint Mary's 4-3 overtime loss to Concordia on Oct. 27, and kicked out 30 Tommie shots in last Saturday's 5-3 loss to St. Thomas. … Nast — who collected his first collegiate assist on Stang's goal against Gustavus on Oct. 26— heads into Saint Mary's showdown against UW-Eau Claire on Saturday with a 2.62 goals-against-average and a .926 save percentage. Rogers, meanwhile, boasts a 3.90 GAA and .869 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored eight of its 12 goals in the third period. On the flip side, the Cardinals have surrendered 18 goals through four games — including eight in the third stanza. … The Cardinals have scored first in two of their five games, going 0-1-1. Saint Mary's is 0-3-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.
 
Scouting The UW-Eau Claire Blugolds:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• The Blugolds head into Saturday's showdown against Saint Mary's ranked No. 10 in the latest USCHO.com Poll, while sitting No. 12 in the D3hockey.com Poll. … UW-Eau Claire entered the weekend riding a season-opening six-game winning streak — the Blugolds scored three goals in wins over Milwaukee School of Engineering (3-1), Lake Forest (3-1), and Northland (3-2), before dropping Bethel (7-0) and Hamline (5-2) last weekend, and edging St. Thomas (2-1) on Friday. … Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of back-to-back home contests for the Blugolds, who have played three of their first six contests on their home ice. … Scott Munro and Steen Cooper netted the Blugolds' two goals in Friday's win over St. Thomas. … Munro's goal against St. Thomas Friday was his team-leading fourth of the season. Munro has scored  in four of the Blugolds' six games this season. … Cooper, Lucas Kohls, Kyle Froese, and Scott Munro are all second to Munro in goals with three each. … Andrew McGlynn owns the team lead in assists with six, followed closely by Jake Bresser with five, and Kohls, Cooper, Johnny Mueller, and Nathan Dingmann with four each. … McGlynn is the team's points leader with eight, one more than Kohls and Cooper. … Kohls had his five-game consecutive-game points streak snapped against St. Thomas on Friday. … McGlynn picked up three of his team-leading six assists in the Blugolds' 5-2 win over Hamline last Saturday. … UW-Eau Claire has scored six power-play goals through six games — including both goals against St. Thomas Friday. … Froese and Munro have each scored two game-winning goals through the season's first six games. … Zach Dyment has started all six games in goal for the Blugolds, compiling a 1.17 goals-against-average and a .934 save percentage. … Dyment has stopped 99 of the 106 shots he's faced this season. … UW-Eau Claire has outscored its opponents 23-7 — 8-2 in the first period, 8-1 in the second, and 7-4 in the third. … The Blugolds have scored first in five of their six games — the lone exception, last Saturday's 5-2 win at Hamline.