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 first-semester schedule on Saturday, as the Cardinals host UW-Stevens Point in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-6-0 Overall) vs. UW-Stevens Point Pointers (5-5-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 30-December 1, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals split their two-game MIAC series against Saint Benedict at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena last weekend. Saint Mary's got two goals from Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) and a 22-save shutout from Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) en route to a 3-0 win last Friday, while Saint Benedict came away with the win in the rematch, scoring the game's first four goals — including three in the first period — in beating SMU 5-1 | CSB Recap 1 * CSB Recap 2
• UW-Stevens Point—December 7, 2018 * Stevens Point, Wis.: Augsburg outshot the Pointers 34-9, as the Auggies dealt UW-Stevens Point a 2-0 nonconference loss to Ice Hawk Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Stevens Point — A Year Ago:
• December 8, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: UW-Stevens Point scored three power-play goals, as the Pointers dealt the Cardinals a 4-2 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Both the Cardinals and Pointers are now off until Jan. 4-5, 2019, when they travel to Stevens Point, Wis., to take part in the UW-Stevens Point Tournament at Ice Hawk Arena. Saint Mary's will face the host Pointers at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, before squaring off with Marian in a 5 p.m. showdown — also at Ice Hawk Arena — the following evening. Along with its Jan. 4 game against Saint Mary's, UW-Stevens Point will do battle with Saint Benedict in a 2:30 p.m. contest on Jan. 5.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's game against UW-Stevens Point is the third straight home game for the Cardinals, who played five of their first seven contests away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Last 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) last Friday as the Cardinals had netted during their five-game losing streak, combined. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored two goals and Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) added the other against Saint Benedict last Friday, while Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.) had the Cardinals' lone goal in the 5-1 loss to the Bennies the following day. … 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 last Friday marked the fifth time in the last eight games that the outcome was decided by shutout. … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals' nonconference game against UW-Stevens Point Saturday leading the team in both assists (5) and points (6). … With her two goals last Friday, Ryan has now netted a team-high four goals. … Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) is second to Ryan in goals with three having scored a trio of goals three 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.) posted 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 three of her four starts — 28 and 24 against St. Thomas, and 29 vs. Augsburg. … Keeley 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 leads the Cardinal goaltending crops with a 2.02 goals-against-average and .935 save percentage. Keeley is close behind with a 2.49 GAA and .909 save percentage, while Ziakas has a 2.70 GAA and .889 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored six of their 17 goals in the first period, while netting five goals in the second and six in the third. On the flip side, Saint Mary's opponents have netted 11 of their 23 goals in the game's final 20 minutes. … Six of the nine goals scored between Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict last weekend were scored in the first period. The Cardinals scored all three of their goals in last Friday's 3-0 in the opening period, while the Bennies netted three of their five tallies in their 5-1 win the following day in the game's first 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 UW-Stevens Point Pointers:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• The Pointers head into Saturday's game against Saint Mary's unbeaten in its six road games this season (5-0-1). Friday's 2-0 loss to Augsburg, meanwhile, dropped the Pointers to 0-5-0 on their home ice. … Alex Grubbs heads into Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's leading the team in goal with five, one more than Dani Heitsman and two in front of Lauren Smith, Cara Lemirande, and Sophie Regovic. … Smith and Cassie Newcomer share the team lead in assists with five each. … Smith is the team's points leader with nine, followed by Lemirande (8), Grubbs (7), and Newcomer (7). … UW-Stevens Point's six power-play goals have come from five different player — Smith (2) is the only Pointer with more than one PP goal. … Lemirande has accounted for three of UW-Stevens Point's five game-winning goals. … Sydney Conley — who made 32 saves against Augsburg on Friday — has started nine of the team's 11 games in goal (504 minutes), compiling a 2.86 goals-against-average and .911 save percentage, while Olivia Schultz owns a 2.31 GAA and .903 save percentage in four appearances (156 minutes). … Conley has stopped 247 of the 271 shots she's faced. … UW-Stevens Point has been outscored 30-26 through 11 games — including 13-10 in the second period. … UW-Stevens Point has been held to two goals or less in all five of its losses this season. On the flip side, the Pointers have scored three or more times in four of their five wins. … UW-Stevens Point has scored first in five of its 11 games, going 2-2-1. The Pointers are 3-3-0 when their opponent nets the game's first goal. … Saturday's game against Saint Mary's marks the sixth contest against a team from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the Pointers, who have already beaten St. Olaf twice (4-1, 5-2), lost to St. Thomas twice (2-1, 6-2), and lost to Augsburg (2-0). UW-SP still has another game against Saint Mary's, as well as matchups against MIAC foes Saint Benedict and St. Catherine, on its schedule.