By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out its two-game conference series against Saint Benedict on Saturday at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Puck drop between the Cardinals and Bennies is slated for 2 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-4-0 MIAC, 3-5-0 Overall) vs. Saint Benedict Bennies (1-2-1 MIAC, 2-3-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Night:
• November 30, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Minn.) scored two goals and Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) stopped all 22 shots she faced, as the Cardinals cruised to a 3-0 MIAC win over Saint Benedict at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict — A Year Ago:
• December 1, 2017 * St. Cloud, Minn.: Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) scored a pair of goals to ignite a season-high six-goal offensive performance, as the Cardinals rolled to a 6-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Saint Benedict at Dave Torrey Ice Arena | Recap
• December 2, 2017 * St. Cloud, Minn.: Less than 24 hours after erupting for a season-high six goals in a 6-2 win over Saint Benedict, Saint Mary's was limited to just a pair of goals in the teams' rematch. And two goals was enough for the Cardinals to complete the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep. Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) scored with 12 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory over Saint Benedict at Dave Torrey Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out their first-semester schedule next Saturday, hosting UW-Stevens Point in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
• Saint Benedict: The Blazers are now off until Jan. 4-5, when they travel to Stevens Point, Wis., for a pair of games in the UW-Stevens Point Tournament. CSB will face Marian at 7:30 p.m. at Ice Hawk Arena on Jan. 4, before facing host UW-Stevens Point at 2:30 p.m. the following afternoon.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Saint Benedict is the second of three straight home games for the Cardinals, who played five of their first seven contests away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Friday's win over Saint Benedict was the Cardinals' first conference win of the year, and snapped Saint Mary's season-high five-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's scored as many goals in the first period against Saint Benedict (3) as the Cardinals had netted during their five-game losing streak, combined. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored two goals against Saint Benedict on Friday, while Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) had the other. … Ryan has now posted two two-goal games this season and has four in her three-year collegiate career. … The Cardinals' 3-0 win over Saint Benedict on Friday marked the fifth time in the last seven games that the outcome was decided by shutout. … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals' conference rematch against Saint Benedict Saturday leading the team in both assists (5) and points (6). … With her two goals Friday night, Ryan has now netted a team-high four goals. … 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. … Ryan, Zebro, and Wolf own the Cardinals' three game-winning goals. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) stopped all 22 shots she faced against Saint Benedict Friday night en route to her first shutout of the season and second of her collegiate career. … Corcoran finished with a season-high 39 saves against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 20 — including 20 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) finished with a career-high 29 saves in Saint Mary's 4-1 loss to Augsburg on Nov. 17. … 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. … 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 … Corcoran heads into Saturday's rematch with Saint Benedict owning a team-best 2.02 goals-against-average and .935 save percentage. Keeley is close behind with a 2.05 GAA and .924 save percentage, while Ziakas has a 3.00 GAA and .885 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored six of their 16 goals in the first period, while netting five goals in both the second and third periods. On the flip side, Saint Mary's opponents have netted 10 of their 18 goals in the game's final 20 minutes. … Saint Mary's game against 10^th-ranked UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 20 was the Cardinals' third straight game against a nationally ranked opponent — Saint Mary's played a pair of games against No. 9 St. Thomas on Nov. 9-10. … Saint Mary's has scored first in all three of its wins. … 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 Saint Benedict Bennies:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of six consecutive road games for the Bennies, who do not play at home again until Jan. 12 against Bethel. … With Friday's 3-0 loss to Saint Mary's, CSB is now 1-3-0 in its last four games. … CSB's 2-1 win over St. Olaf on Nov. 16 snapped the Bennies' season-high three-game losing streak. … Saint Benedict has held its opponents to just one goal in both of its wins — beating Chatham 5-1 and St. Olaf 2-1. … Saint Benedict has scored just a combined four goals in its four losses this season — and has been outscored 20-4 in those three contests. … Julia Pias and Riley Schneider scored CSB's goals in its 2-1 win over St. Olaf on Nov. 16, while Pias netted the game-tying goal in the teams' 1-1 tie the following day. … Pias, Schneider, Courtney Conlin, and Maddie Dockry all share the team lead with two goals each. … Conlin, Schneider, Pias, and Annika Brodt are the team's assist leaders with two, while Conlin, Schneider, and Pias share the team lead in points with four, one more than Dockry and Brodt. … Conlin owns both of the Bennies' special teams goals — one power play and one shorthanded. … Schneider and Reegan Petnode have accounted for the Bennies' two game-winning goals. … Kailee Medved has appeared in six games in goal this season — including five starts — and boasts a 2.28 goals-against-average and .923 save percentage. … Julia Carle has made the other two starts between the pipes, owning a 6.05 GAA and .861 save percentage. … Medved has amassed 144 saves in six games — including 30 against Saint Mary's Friday evening — while Carle has stopped 68 shots in her two appearances. … Saint Benedict has scored six of its 12 goals in the second period. The Bennies have been outscored 12-4 in the first period and 5-2 in the third. … The Bennies' 1-1 tie against St. Olaf on Nov. 17 was their first overtime game of the season. … CSB has scored first just once in its first seven games, beating Chatham 5-1 in its season-opener on Oc. 26. The Bennies are 1-4-1 when their opponent scores the game's first goal.