By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team steps out of conference play on Tuesday, heading to Hobbs Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. nonconference showdown against UW-Eau Claire
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-4-0 Overall) at UW-Eau Claire Blugolds (3-2-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 16-17, 2018 * Winona, Minn./Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals dropped both games of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Augsburg last weekend, falling to the Auggies 3-2 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, before dropping a 4-1 decision the following afternoon at the Ed Saugestad Rink | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
• UW-Eau Claire—November 17, 2018 * Eau Claire, Wis.: The Blugolds had their four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) snapped, falling to UW-River Falls 2-1 at Hobbs Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Eau Claire — A Year Ago:
• November 25, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Blugolds scored goals in the opening minutes of both the first and second periods, and the Cardinals never recovered in falling to UW-Eau Claire 3-1 in a nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Nov. 30-Dec. 1, when they entertain Saint Benedict in a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Saint Mary's and CSB will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday evening, with Saturday's rematch slated for a 2 p.m. start.
• UW-Eau Claire: The Blugolds are back in action on Friday, traveling to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., for a 7 p.m. nonconference showdown with Concordia.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Tuesday's game against UW-Eau Claire is the fifth road game in seven contests this season for the Cardinals. … Prior to last Friday's 3-2 loss to Augsburg, the Cardinals' previous three games 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 on Nov. 9-10. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored both of the Cardinals' goals in last Friday's 3-2 loss to Augsburg, while Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.) netted Saint Mary's lone goal in its 4-1 setback vs. the Auggies in the teams' rematch the following day. … With her two goals against Augsburg last Friday, Ryan now owns three career two-goal games. … Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) — who assisted on Wallraff's goal vs. Augsburg last Saturday — 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' 13 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' nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire Tuesday 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). … Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) finished with a career-high 29 saves in last Saturday's 4-1 loss to Augsburg. … Keeley has now made 20 or more saves in each of her last three starts — 28 and 24 against St. Thomas, and 29 vs. Augsburg. … Keeley had stopped all 16 shots she faced in recording her first collegiate shutout — in her first collegiate start — against Marian on Oct. 27. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) finished with 25 saves last Friday against Augsburg 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 Tuesday's matchup against UW-Eau Claire owning a 2.05 goals-against-average and .924 save percentage, while Ziakas has a 3.00 GAA and .885 save percentage, while Corcoran boasts a 3.06 GAA and .893 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored five goals in both the second and third periods to account for 10 of their 13 goals this season. On the flip side, Saint Mary's opponents have netted nine of their 15 goals in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's has scored first in both of its wins — Budensiek scored at 7:06 of the second period in the Cardinals' 6-3 win over St. Norbert on Oct. 26 and Zebro scored at 7:39 of the opening period against Marian — while the Cardinals are 0-4-0 when their opponent scores first. … 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 UW-Eau Claire Blugolds:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the fifth straight home game for the Blugolds, who are 2-2-1 on their home ice this season. … With their 2-1 loss to UW-River Falls last Saturday, the Blugolds had their four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) snapped. … UW-Eau Claire's last three games have all been decided by one goal or less — including two that went into overtime. UW-EC tied Gustavus 2-2 on Nov. 3, beat UW-Superior 5-4 on Nov. 10, and lost to UW-River Falls 2-1 last Saturday. … UW-Eau Claire has scored five goals or more in all three of its wins this season — including a season-high eight in an 8-0 win over Marian on Oct. 28. … Hanna Zavoral netted the Blugolds' lone goal in last Saturday's 2-1 loss to UW-River Falls. … Courtney Wittig heads into Tuesday's showdown against Saint Mary's leading the team with five goals, one more than both Zavoral and Holly Turnbull. … Elizabeth Bauer owns the team lead in both assists (10) and points (13). … Turnbull has also eclipsed the 10-point barrier through six games, adding seven assists to her four goals for 11 points. … Eleven of the Blugolds' 25 goals this season have come on the power play — Courtney Wittig leads the way with four power-play goals. … Bauer, Wittig, and Kelly Knetter have netted the team's three game-winning goals. … Erin Connolly has started five of the Blugolds' six games in goal, compiling a 2.55 goals-against-average and an .895 save percentage. … Anna Veazey owns one start between the pipes, stopping 24 of the 25 shots she faced (1.00 GAA, .960 save percentage). … Connolly owns a team-best 111 saves. … The Blugolds have outscored their opponents in every period — 7-3 in the first, 8-7 in the second, 9-4 in the third, and 1-0 in overtime. … UW-Eau Claire has scored first in all three of its wins (3-0-0), while going 0-2-1 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.