By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team steps out of conference play on Friday, traveling to Alumni Memorial Arena for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against Lake Forest
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-7-1 Overall) at Lake Forest Foresters (1-3-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 16-17, 2018 * Minneapolis, Minn./Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals came up empty in their two conference games against No. 13 Augsburg, falling to the Auggies 2-1 last Friday at Ed Saugestad Rink, before dropping a 4-1 decision the following evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
• Lake Forest—November 8-9, 2018 * Fond du Lac, Wis./Appleton, Wis.: The Foresters split a pair of road games against Marian and Lawrence last weekend, falling to the Sabres 2-1 on Nov. 8, before rebounding with a convincing 8-1 rout of the Vikings the following day | Marian Recap * Lawrence Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Lake Forest — The Last Meeting:
• November 24, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals, managing just single goals in back-to-back 5-1 losses to Augsburg the previous weekend, turned their offense up a notch or two against Lake Forest, scoring three times — including two off the stick of Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.). The Forester offense, however, doubled that output, scoring three times in the second period and adding two more in the third in dealing the Cardinals a 6-3 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• November 25, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) scored the go-ahead goal with 1:43 remaining in regulation and Michael Cimba (Willmette, Ill.) added an empty net goal a minute later as the Cardinals collected a 4-2 victory over the visiting Foresters at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Foresters return to Alumni Memorial Arena on Saturday for the second game of their two-game nonconference series. Puck drop is slated for 4 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Friday's game against Lake Forest is the first of four straight road games for the Cardinals, who play 10 of their first 12 contests away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Prior to last Saturday's 4-1 loss to Augsburg, the Cardinals' first seven games this season were all decided by two goals or less — including four decided by one goal or less and three that have gone into overtime. … Last weekend's games against No. 13 Augsburg were the fifth and sixth straight games against a nationally ranked opponent for the Cardinals, who played two games vs. No. 15 St. Thomas on Nov. 2-3, and faced top-ranked UW-Stevens Point and No. 10 UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 9-10. … Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) scored his first collegiate goal to account for Saint Mary's tally in last Friday's 2-1 loss to the Auggies, while Austin Arnold (Anchorage, Alaska) netted his first of the season — and second of his collegiate career — in the Cardinals' 4-1 loss to Augsburg the following day. … Saint Mary's boasts a pair of players who put together three-game goal-scoring streaks this season — Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) had his three-game run snapped against Augsburg last Friday night, while Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario) had his three-game streak ended against No. 10 UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 10. … Liverance had a hand in all three goals — scoring once and assisting on the other two — in Saint Mary's 5-3 loss to St. Thomas on Nov. 3. … All three of the Cardinals' goals in their 3-3 tie against 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 the rematch with the Tommies on Nov. 3, as Liverance netted his third goal of the season and Hatton added his second in a Cardinal uniform. … Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.) is the fourth Cardinal to net his first collegiate goal this season, finding the back of the net against Concordia on Oct. 27. … Liverance heads into this weekend's nonconference series at Lake Forest owning the team lead in both goals (4) and points (6). … DiBacco is second to Liverance in goals with three, followed by Hatton and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) with two each. … Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.), who posted back-to-back two-assist games against St. Thomas on Nov. 3 and UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 9, leads the team with five helpers. … Saint Mary's has netted four power-play goals this season — led by Hatton with two. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) — who finished with a combined 43 saves in two starts against Augsburg last weekend — has made 30 or more saves in three of his five starts in goal this season. … Nast — who collected his first collegiate assist on Stang's goal against Gustavus on Oct. 26 — heads into Saint Mary's matchup against Lake Forest with a 2.76 goals-against-average and a .911 save percentage. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) — who finished with a season- and career-high 43 saves against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 10 — boasts a 3.61 GAA and .897 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored eight of its 15 goals in the third period. On the flip side, the Cardinals have surrendered 27 goals through eight games — including 13 in the third stanza. … The Cardinals have scored first in five of their eight games, but are 0-4-1 in those five contests. Saint Mary's is 0-3-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.
 
Scouting The Lake Forest Foresters:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• The Foresters enter Friday's game against Saint Mary's on the heels of their first win of the season — an 8-1 victory over Lawrence on Nov. 9. … Lake Forest's 8-1 win over Lawrence snapped its season-opening five-game winless streak (0-3-2). … The Foresters' eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 9 came from eight different players — Cody Guidorzi, Aaron O'Neill, Zach Feldman, Cullen Kane, Bron Loiselle, Joe Sardina, Connor Duncan, and Ryan Kruss. … Along with a goal Loiselle also chipped in three assists against Lawrence, while Sardina, Kruss, and Troy Nelson all added two assists. … Kruss, Sardina, and Guidorzi all head into this weekend's games against Saint Mary's sharing the team lead with two goals each. … Loiselle has amassed a team-high four assists, one more than Kruss and Sardina, while Kruss, Loiselle, and Sardina are the team's points leaders with five each. … Seven of Lake Forest's 16 goals this season have come on the power play. … Kruss and Zach Feldman lead the Foresters with two power-play goals each. … Louis-Philippe De Courcy has started five of the Foresters' six games in goal, compiling a 2.36 goals-against-average and .928 save percentage. … De Courcy has stopped 155 of the 167 shots he's faced. … George Argiropoulos has made one start between the pipes, allowing one goal, while stopping 32 of 33 shots. … Lake Forest has outscored its opponents 5-4 in the first period and 7-4 in the second, but have been outscored 6-4 in the third. … Lake Forest's eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 9 were a season high, and the most scored in a game since the Foresters scored nine in routing Concordia (Wis.) 9-1 on Jan. 23, 2015. … Lake Forest has been held to one goal in all three of its losses this season — falling to UW-Eau Claire (3-1), St. Scholastica (3-1), and Marian (2-1). …  Lake Forest has scored first in three of its first six games, going 1-0-2. The Foresters are winless (0-3-0) when their opponent scores first.