By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
STEVENS POINT, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team steps of out conference play on Friday, traveling to K.B. Willett Arena for a 7 p.m. nonconference showdown with top-ranked UW-Stevens Point.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3-1 Overall) at #1 UW-Stevens Point Pointers (3-0-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: November 2-3, 2018 * Mendota Heights/Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals played a pair of nailbiters against No. 15 St. Thomas last weekend, battling the Tommies to a 3-3 tie at the St. Thomas Ice Arena last Friday, while dropping a 5-3 decision in the rematch at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena the following day | UST Recap 1 * UST Recap 2
• UW-Stevens Point: November 2-3, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn./Blaine, Minn.: The Pointers picked up a pair of convincing nonconference road wins last weekend, rolling to a 5-2 win over Hamline last Friday, before routing Bethel 9-2 the following evening | Hamline Recap * Bethel Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Stevens Point — Their Last Meeting:
• November 10, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Pointers netted almost as many goals in the game's first eight minutes (three) as the Cardinals had allowed in their first four games combined (four), as UW-Stevens Point dealt the Cardinals a 7-2 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road on Saturday, heading to Hobbs Ice Center in Eau Claire, Wis., for a second straight 7 p.m. showdown with a nationally ranked opponent —this time UW-Eau Claire.
• UW-Stevens Point: The Pointers are back on their home ice at K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point, Wis., on Saturday, hosting St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. nonconference game.
 
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. … Two of the Cardinals' first four games have gone into overtime, 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 each of its last three contests. … All three of the Cardinals' goals in last Friday's 3-3 tie against #15 St. Thomas were scored by freshmen. Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario) 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 Saturday's rematch, as Liverance netted his team-leading third goal and Hatton added his second in a Cardinal uniform. … Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) accounted for Saint Mary's third goal in last Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Tommies. … 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. … Liverance heads into Friday's showdown against UW-Stevens Point owns the team lead in both goals (3) and points (5). … Hatton and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) are second to Liverance in goals with two each, while Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) is the team's assist leader with three, one more than Liverance and Robert Roslund (Vastra Gotaland, Sweden). … Saint Mary's has netted two power-play goals through four games this season — both coming off the stick of Hatton. … 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. … Saint Mary's had seven freshmen make their collegiate debuts at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase on Oct. 26-27. … The Cardinals have used two different goalies through their first four games. Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) made 35 saves in Saint Mary's 3-1 loss to Gustavus on Oct. 26 and added a 33-save showing against #15 St. Thomas last Friday. 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 the Tommies. … Nast — who collected his first collegiate assist on Stang's goal against Gustavus on Oct. 26— heads into Saint Mary's showdown against UW-Stevens Point on Friday with a 2.40 goals-against-average and a .932 save percentage. Rogers, meanwhile, boasts a 3.90 GAA and .869 save percentage. … Saint Mary's has scored seven of its goals in the third period — including all three in last Saturday's 5-3 loss to St. Thomas. On the flip side, the Cardinals have surrendered 15 goals through four games — including seven in the third stanza. … The Cardinals have scored first in two of their four games, going 0-1-1. Saint Mary's is 0-2-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.
 
Scouting The UW-Stevens Point Pointers:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• The Pointers head into Friday's showdown against Saint Mary's ranked No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com Polls. … With their wins over Hamline and Bethel last weekend, the Pointers pushed their season-opening unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1). … Saint Mary's is the third of four straight games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the Pointers, who have outscored their first two MIAC foes 14-4. … UW-Stevens Point's five goals against Hamline last Friday came from five different players — Carter Roo, Austin Kelly, Baxter Kanter, T.J. Roo, and Colin Raver, while the Pointers' season-high nine goals in last Saturday's 9-2 win over Bethel came from eight different players. Brennen Miller scored twice, with Drew McLean, Carter Roo, Luke McElhenie, Logan Fredericks, Ethan Strong, and Tanner Karty accounting for the other seven. … McElhenie enters Friday's game against Saint Mary's as the team-leader in goals with three, one more than Carter Roo, Fredericks, Miller, and T.J. Roo. … Carter Roo and Zach Zech share the team lead in assists with three each, with McElhenie and Carter Roo owning the team lead in points with five. … UW-Stevens Point's 20 goals this season have come from 14 different players. … Connor Ryckman has started three of the team's four games in goal, compiling a 2.01 goals-against-average and a .905 save percentage. … Eli Billing owns the team's other start between the pipes, posting a 1.85 GAA and .833 save percentage. … Ryckman has stopped 57 of the 63 shots he's faced, with Billing recording 10 saves in his lone start. … UW-Stevens Point — which has scored the game's first goal in all four of its contests this season — has outscored its opponents 5-3 in the first period, 7-2 in the second, and 8-3 in the third.