By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals host ninth-ranked St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC, 2-0-0 Overall) vs. #9 St. Thomas Tommies (0-0-0 MIAC, 4-0-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 26-27, 2018 * Ashwaubenon, Wis./Fond du Lac, Wis.: The Cardinals picked up a pair of nonconference wins to open the season, erupting for six goals in a 6-3 win over St. Norbert, before shutting out Marian 4-0 the following afternoon | SNC Recap * Marian Recap
• St. Thomas—November 2-3, 2018 * Stevens Point, Wis.: The Tommies picked up a pair of nonconference road wins last weekend, sweeping UW-Stevens Point. St. Thomas opened the two-game series with a 2-1 victory last Friday, before completing the sweep with a 6-2 victory the following afternoon | UWSP Recap 1 * UWSP Recap 2
 
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:
• The Cardinals and Tommies head to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., on Saturday for the second game of their two-game conference series. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• 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. … The Cardinals' six goals in their 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.) had a hand in five of the Cardinals' 10 goals in their first two games — 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' showdown 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, while Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) stopped all 16 shots she faced in recording her first collegiate shutout — in her first collegiate start — the following day against Marian. … Five of the Cardinals' 10 goals this season have come in the third period, while two of the three goals Saint Mary's has allowed have come in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's scored the game's first goal in both of its 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.
 
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 is 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 their 2-1, 6-2 nonconference sweep of UW-Stevens Point, the Tommies pushed their season-opening winning streak to four straight. … UW-Stevens Point's goal at 12:19 of the second period was the first allowed by the Tommies this season. UST opened the year by posting back-to-back shutout wins over Lake Forest. … 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. … With her two goals against the Pointers last weekend, Solheim heads into this weekend's conference opener against Saint Mary's leading the team with three goals, one more than Werdin, Wallace, Moy, and Shae McLean. … McLean is the team-leader in both assists (5) and points (7). … St. Thomas' four game-winning goals have come from four different players — McLean, Werdin, Moy, Werdin, and Maddy Fiedler. … Mackenzie Torpy has started all four games in goal for the Tommies, compiling a 0.55 goals-against-average and a .964 save percentage. … Torpy has stopped 54 of the 56 shots she's faced this season. … The Tommies have outscored their opponents 15-3 — 4-1 in the first period, 8-1 in the second, and 3-1 in the third. … St. Thomas has scored the game's first goal in three of their first four games this season.