By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Augsburg on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Ed Saugestad Rink for a 3 p.m. rematch with the Auggies
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3-0 MIAC, 2-3-0 Overall) vs. Augsburg Auggies (3-0-0 MIAC, 3-1-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Night:
• November 16, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Augsburg scored a pair of third-period goals, erasing a 2-1 Saint Mary's lead and sparking the Auggies to a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — A Year Ago:
• November 17, 2017 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals scored just five minutes into the opening period of their MIAC game against Augsburg at Ed Saugestad Rink — only to have the Auggies rattle off three unanswered goals in the third period in dealing Saint Mary's a 3-1 setback | Recap
• November 18, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals were the only team on the scoreboard through the first two periods of the first game of their conference series against Augsburg — only to have the Auggies erupt for three, third-period goals for the come-from-behind 3-1 win. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the tables were turned in the teams' rematch at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, as the Auggies were the ones getting on the board first — and second, and third — as Augsburg took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and never looked back, handing the Cardinals a 3-0 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Hobbs Ice Arena in Eau Claire, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire.
• Augsburg: The Auggies step out of conference play on Tuesday, heading to Wessman Arena in Superior, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference matchup against UW-Superior.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Friday's game against Augsburg was just the second home game of the season for the Cardinals, who have played three of their first five games away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Prior to Friday's 3-2 loss to Augsburg, the Cardinals' last had all been decided by shutout — Saint Mary's beat Marian 4-0 on Oct. 27, while falling to ninth-ranked St. Thomas 1-0 and 4-0 last weekend. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored both of the Cardinals' goals in Friday's 3-2 loss to Augsburg. Ryan now owns three career two-goal games. … Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) scored three goals during the Cardinals' opening weekend — netting her first collegiate goal against St. Norbert on Oct. 26, before recording her first collegiate two-goal game the following day against Marian. … Carolyn Chrastka (Franklin Park, Ill.), Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.) and Lexie Budensiek (Farmington, Minn.) also scored their first goals in a Cardinal uniform during Saint Mary's season-opening weekend — Chrastka's and Budensiek's coming against St. Norbert on Oct. 26, with Sheridan finding the back of the net the following day against Marian. … Chrastka added her second goal of the season against Marian on Oct. 27. … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) has had a hand in six of the Cardinals' 12 goals this season — scoring once and assisting on five others. … Zebro and Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) own the Cardinals' two game-winning goals. … Moser heads into the Cardinals' conference rematch against Augsburg with a team-best six points (1 G, 5 A), two more than Chrastka (2 G, 2 A) and Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn. / 1 G, 3 A). … St. Thomas' goal at 14:07 of the third period on Nov. 9 was the first goal allowed by Saint Mary's goalie Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) this season. Keeley stopped all 16 shots she faced in recording her first collegiate shutout — in her first collegiate start — the against Marian on Oct. 27. … Keeley finished with a season- and career-high 28 saves in the Cardinals' 1-0 loss to the Tommies last Friday, while adding 24 saves in the team's rematch the following afternoon. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) finished with 25 saves Friday night in her first start of the season. … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) stopped 23 of the 26 shots she faced in the Cardinals' season-opening 6-3 win over St. Norbert on Oct. 26 … Keeley heads into this weekend's games against Augsburg owning a 1.35 goals-against-average and .944 save percentage, while Ziakas has a 3.00 GAA and .885 save percentage. … Five of the Cardinals' 12 goals this season have come in the third period, while eight of the 11 goals Saint Mary's has allowed have come in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's has scored the game's first goal in two of its five contests this season — Budensiek scored at 7:06 of the second period in the Cardinals' 6-3 win over St. Norbert on Oct. 26, while Zebro scored at 7:39 of the opening period against Marian. … The Cardinals' six goals in their 6-3, season-opening win over St. Norbert equaled their single-game season high from a year ago. … With their 6-3 season-opening win over St. Norbert on Oct. 26, the Cardinals have now won their season-opener in each of their last four seasons. … Thanks to their 6-3 win over St. Norbert and 4-0 victory over Marian, the Cardinals have now swept those two teams to open each of the last three seasons.
 
Scouting The Augsburg Auggies:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's was just the second road game of the season for the Auggies, who have played three of their first four contests at Ed Saugestad Rink. … With Friday's 3-2 win over Saint Mary's, the Auggies pushed their unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1). Augsburg has not lost since opening the season with a 3-1 setback against St. Scholastica to open the season on Oct. 26. … Emily Ach, Hollywood Hermanson, and Nikki Nightengale netted Augsburg's three goals against Saint Mary's Friday night. … Nightengale has now scored in three straight games — having netted goals in each of Augsburg's wins over Bethel last weekend. … Augsburg's six goals in last Friday's 6-2 win over Bethel came from six different players — Nightengale, Megan Johnson, Bridget Wagner, Bridget Walter, Mikayla Jones, and Bailey Beane. … Mackenzie Molnar led the way for Augsburg in its rematch with Bethel last Saturday, recording her first collegiate hat trick, with Wagner, Nightengale, and Johnson all scoring for the second straight game. … Along with her goal, Wagner also recorded three assists in last Saturday's 6-0 win over the Royals. … All three of Molnar's goals vs. Bethel last Saturday were on the power play. … Nightengale leads the Auggies in goals with four, one more than Molnar. … Wagner is the team's assist lead with four, followed by Molnar (3), Johnson (3), and Jeanette Bealke (3). … Molnar and Wagner share the team lead with six points apiece. … Nightengale owns two of the Auggies' three game-winning goals, with Wagner netting the other. … Annie Juergens and McKenna Manalli have shared the goaltending duties for the Auggies this season, with Juergens making three starts, while Manalli has made two. … Juergens — who notched her fifth collegiate shutout with a 17-save effort against Bethel last Saturday — owns a 1.30 goals-against-average and .892 save percentage, while Manalli boasts a 2.58 GAA and .828 save percentage in her two starts. … Juergens has made a team-leading 33 saves, nine more than Manalli. … Augsburg has outscored its opponents 18-9 — including 6-2 in the first period and 6-3 in the second. … The Auggies have scored the game's first goal in each of its first five games.