By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team closes out its two-game nonconference series against Lake Forest on Saturday, as the Cardinals return to Alumni Memorial Arena for a 4 p.m. rematch against Lake Forest
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-8-1 Overall) at Lake Forest Foresters (2-3-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Video
 
Last Night:
• November 23, 2018 * Lake Forest, Ill.: Lake Forest scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, as the Foresters dealt the Cardinals a 2-1 nonconference setback at Alumni Memorial Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Lake Forest — A Year Ago:
• 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 Friday 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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road next weekend, heading to the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn., for a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games against Saint John's. Saint Mary's and SJU will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, with Saturday's rematch slated for 2 p.m.
• Lake Forest: The Foresters return to NCHA play next weekend, hosting Milwaukee School of Engineering in a 7 p.m. contest at Alumni Memorial Arena on Friday, before heading to Mequon, Wis., for a 7 p.m. matchup against Concordia (Wis.).
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Lake Forest is the second of four straight road games for the Cardinals, who play 10 of their first 12 contests away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With Friday's 2-1 loss to Lake Forest, eight of the Cardinals' first nine games this season have been decided by two goals or less — including five 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. … Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) scored his third goal of the season to account for the Cardinals' tally in Friday's 2-1 loss to Lake Forest. … Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) scored his first collegiate goal to in Saint Mary's loss to Augsburg on Nov. 16, 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. … With Friday's 2-1 loss to Lake Forest, the Cardinals have now been held to one goal in each of their last four games. … 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 Saturday's nonconference game at Lake Forest owning the team lead in both goals (4) and points (6). … DiBacco and Tommy Stang are second to Liverance in goals with three goals each, followed by Hatton with two. … 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, one more than Jack Stang. … Saint Mary's has netted four power-play goals this season — led by Hatton with two. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) — who finished with 25 saves against Lake Forest on Friday — has made 30 or more saves in three of his six 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 rematch with Lake Forest with a 2.63 goals-against-average and a .912 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 16 goals in the third period. On the flip side, the Cardinals have surrendered 29 goals through nine games — including 13 in the third stanza. … The Cardinals have scored first in five of their nine games, but are 0-4-1 in those five contests. Saint Mary's is 0-4-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.
 
Scouting The Lake Forest Foresters:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• Friday's 2-1 win over Saint Mary's was the Foresters second straight victory, after starting the season 0-3-2. … Lake Forest snapped its season-opening five-game winless streak with an 8-1 victory over Lawrence on Nov. 9. … Aaron O'Neill and Cullen Kane netted the Foresters' two goals in Friday's win over Saint Mary's. … O'Neill and Kane have now scored in back-to-back games. … The Foresters' eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 9 came from eight different players — O'Neill, Kane, Cody Guidorzi, Zach Feldman, 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. … O'Neill heads into Saturday's game against Saint Mary's with a team-leading three goals, one more than Kane, Kruss, Sardina, Feldman, and Guidorzi. … Sardina and Loiselle share the team lead with four assists, with Sardina owning a team-best six points. … Eight of Lake Forest's 18 goals this season have come on the power play. … Kruss, O'Neill, and Feldman lead the Foresters with two power-play goals each. … Louis-Philippe De Courcy — who made 29 saves against Saint Mary's on Friday — has started six of the Foresters' seven games in goal, compiling a 1.97 goals-against-average and .939 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 9-5 in the second, but has 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 four of its first seven games, going 2-0-2. The Foresters are winless (0-3-0) when their opponent scores first.