By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out its two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against St. Thomas on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to the St. Thomas Ice Arena for a 2 p.m. rematch with the Tommies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-1-0 MIAC, 2-1-0 Overall) at #9 St. Thomas Tommies (1-0-0 MIAC, 5-0-0 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• November 9, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: St. Thomas scored the game's only goal with less than six minutes remaining in regulation, as the Tommies handed the Cardinals a 1-0 setback in the teams' conference opener at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
• November 10, 2017 * Mendota Heights, Minn.: The Cardinals — coming off back-to-back wins over Marian and St. Norbert to kick off the 2017-18 season two weeks ago — could not shut down the high-powered Tommie offense, as UST erupted for three goals in less than a three-minute span midway through the third period in cruising to a 5-0 conference win over Saint Mary's at the St. Thomas Ice Arena | Recap
• November 11, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals, who surrendered three, third-period goals in their 5-0 loss to the Tommies at the St. Thomas Ice Arena, gave UST a taste of its own medicine in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. After spotting St. Thomas a 1-0 lead early in the final period, the Cardinals erupted for three unanswered goals — including two off the stick of Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.) — as Saint Mary's dealt the eighth-ranked Tommies their first loss of the season, 3-1 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in conference play next weekend with a pair of contests against Augsburg. Saint Mary's will host the Auggies in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, before the two teams head to Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for Saturday's 3 p.m. rematch.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies square off against St. Catherine for a pair of MIAC contests next weekend. St. Thomas will head across town to Drake Arena for a 7 p.m. contest against the Wildcats, with the teams heading to St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's matchup against St. Thomas is the third road contest in the first four games for the Cardinals. … St. Thomas' goal at 14:07 of the third period Friday night 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. … The Cardinals' six goals in their 6-3, season-opening win over St. Norbert equaled their single-game season high from a year ago. … 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 five of the Cardinals' 10 goals this season — scoring once and assisting on four others. … Zebro and Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) own the Cardinals' game-winning goals. … Moser heads into the Cardinals' rematch against St. Thomas with a team-best five points (1 G, 4 A), one more than Chrastka (2 G, 2 A). … 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 … Five of the Cardinals' 10 goals this season have come in the third period, while three of the four 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 three 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. … 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• The Tommies head into this weekend's two-game series against Saint Mary's ranked No. 9 in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com Polls. … Friday's game against Saint Mary's was the third straight road game for the Tommies, who opened the season with back-to-back home contests, before hitting the road for two at UW-Stevens Point. … With Friday's 1-0 win over Saint Mary's Friday, the Tommies pushed their season-opening winning streak to five straight. … UW-Stevens Point's goal at 12:19 of the second period last Friday was the first allowed by the Tommies this season. UST opened the year by posting back-to-back shutout wins over Lake Forest. … Sam Auman netted her first goal of the season to account for all the scoring in Friday's 1-0 win over Saint Mary's Friday. … Chloe McEnelly and Maddy Fiedler netted UST's two goals in last Friday's 2-1 win over UW-Stevens Point, while Anna Solheim scored twice and Alyssa Wallace, Sarah Moy, Rachel Werdin, and Kate Winiecki also found the back of the net in the Tommies' 6-2 victory vs. the Pointers the next day. … Solheim and Wallace share the team lead in goals with three, one more than Werdin, Moy, and Shae McLean. … McLean is the team-leader in both assists (5) and shares the team lead in points (7) with Solheim. … St. Thomas' five game-winning goals have come from five different players — McLean, Werdin, Moy, Auman, and Maddy Fiedler. … Mackenzie Torpy — who stopped all 18 shots she faced against Saint Mary's Friday — has started all five games in goal for the Tommies, compiling a 0.43 goals-against-average and a .973 save percentage. … Torpy has stopped 72 of the 74 shots she's faced this season. … The Tommies have outscored their opponents 16-3 — 4-1 in the first period, 8-1 in the second, and 4-1 in the third. … St. Thomas has scored the game's first goal in four of their first five games this season.