By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out the home portion of its regular-season schedule on Friday, as the Cardinals host St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-9-2 MIAC, 8-13-2 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (3-11-2 MIAC, 4-16-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program | Senior Salute (PDF * HTML)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 9-10, 2018 * Winona, Minn./St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals came up empty in their conference series against league-leading Hamline last weekend, falling to the Pipers 4-2 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, before dropping a 6-0 decision in the rematch the following afternoon at the Minnesota Wild TRIA Rink | HU Recap 1 * HU Recap 2
• St. Olaf—February 9-10, 2018 * Northfield, Minn./Blaine, Minn.: The Oles split their MIAC series against Bethel last weekend—with both teams winning on their home ice. St. Olaf beat the Royals5-3 on Friday at the Northfield Ice Arena, before falling to BU 7-1 the following afternoon at the Schwan's Super Rink | BU Recap 1 * BU Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—A Year Ago:
• November 17, 2016 * Northfield, Minn.: Saint Mary's erupted for six goals—the highest single-game offensive output since scoring six on two separate occasions during the 2009-10 season—in cruising to a 6-3 conference win over St. Olaf at the Northfield Ice Arena | Recap
• November 19, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's surrendered four goals over the game's final two periods Saturday, as St. Olaf rattled off three unanswered goals in handing the Cardinals a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Oles close out the regular season on Saturday, heading to the Northfield Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn., for the second game of the teams' two-game conference series. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
MIAC Playoff Picture:
• Three of the five MIAC Playoff invitations have already been delivered to Hamline (13-2-1), Gustavus (11-2-3), and Augsburg (9-4-3), leaving Concordia (6-7-3, 15 points), Bethel (5-9-2, 12 points), Saint Mary's (5-9-2, 12 points), and St. Catherine (5-10-1, 11 points) to battle for the two remaining spots.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• Friday's game against St. Olaf is the final regular-season home game for the Cardinals—and the final regular-season collegiate game for Saint Mary's seniors Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.), Mandy Sailor (Ramsey, Minn.), Hannah Croonquist (St. Paul, Minn.), Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.), Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill.), and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.). … The Cardinals' 4-2 loss to league-leading Hamline snapped a streak of three straight Fridays in which Saint Mary's has played an overtime game—SMU battled St. Catherine to a 3-3 tie on Jan. 19, drew with Gustavus 1-1 on Jan. 26, and fell to Bethel 3-2 on Feb. 2. … After winning just once in 12 home games a year ago (1-8-3), four of the Cardinals' eight wins this season—and both of their ties—have come at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Saint Mary's had its streak of six straight games scoring three goals snapped with its 1-1 tie vs. Gustavus on Jan. 26. … Saint Mary's 3-2 loss to Bethel on Feb. 2 was the Cardinals' fourth overtime game of the season—Saint Mary's beat Saint Benedict 2-1 on Dec. 2, and tied St. Catherine (3-3) on Jan. 19 and Gustavus (1-1) on Jan. 26. … The Cardinals last four wins have been decided by two goals or less—4-2 vs. Bethel, 3-2 over Concordia and Lake Forest, and 2-1 over Saint Benedict. … With their 4-2 win over Bethel on Feb. 3, the Cardinals have now won eight games this season. Saint Mary's owned just six wins all of last year. … Kayla Henning (Burnsville, Minn.) and Cwik scored the Cardinals' two goals against Hamline last weekend. Cwik has now scored goals in two of Saint Mary's last four games. … Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) accounted for all four goals in the Cardinals' 4-2 win over Bethel on Feb. 3. It was Wendt's second hat trick, and third multiple-goal game, this season. … Wendt recorded her first collegiate hat trick against Marian on Oct. 27. … Wendt's four-goal game vs. the Royals was the first by a Cardinal since 2001, while her two hat tricks are the most in a single season Emily Kearns scored three goals in a game twice during the 2003-04 season. … With her four goals against Bethel, Wendt heads into this weekend's games against St. Olaf as the team-leader in goals (13) and points (18). … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.), who assisted on two of Wendt's four goals vs. Bethel last Saturday, owns a team-best 11 assists, two more than Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.). … Moser and Cwik are tied for second in points with 12, while Ryan and Hafiz are tied third with 11. … Ryan recorded her first collegiate two-goal game against Concordia on Jan. 12. … Delaney Wolf's (Bismarck, N.D.) goal against Concordia on Jan. 13—the game-winner at 13:27 of the third period—was her first as a Cardinal. … Wolf became the third player to score her first collegiate goal this season, joining Mady Bodick (Savage, Minn.) and Lauren Rogers (Barrington, Ill.). … Moser's two assists vs. Bethel last Saturday marked the fourth time this season the freshman has two assists in a game. … Hafiz and Cwik each recorded two-goal games against Saint Benedict on Dec. 1-2. Cwik scored twice against the Blazers on Dec. 1 to record his first multiple-goal game, while Hafiz scored both goals in Saint Mary's overtime win of the Blazers the following day. It was Hafiz's third two-goal game of her two-year collegiate career. … Ryan assisted on three of the Cardinals' six goals vs. CSB on Dec. 1 en route to her first collegiate three-point game, while Rogers added two assists to her second-period goal for her first three-point game in a Cardinal uniform. … Wendt's goal at 19:41 of the first period against Marian on Oct. 27 was the Cardinals' first goal of the season. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) stopped a season-high 42 shots in the Cardinals' 1-1 tie against Gustavus on Jan. 26. … Corcoran has stopped 30 or more shots 11 times this season—including six of her last nine starts. … Corcoran boasts a 2.81 goals-against-average and a .913 save percentage. … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.)—who picked up the win against St. Norbert in her first collegiate start on Oct. 28, stopping 28 of the Green Knights' 29 shots—made a career-high 41 saves in the Cardinals' 6-3 loss to Lake Forest on Jan. 7. The 41-save effort was four more than Ziakas' previous career-best. … Ziakas has compiled a 3.43 GAA and .904 save percentage in her seven appearances this season. … The Cardinals have scored 29 goals in their eight wins this season, while managing a combined 17 goals in their 13 losses. … The Cardinals are 4-3-0 when scoring first, while going 4-10-2 when their opponent nets the game's first goal. … The Cardinals erupted for a season-high six goals in their 6-2 win over Saint Benedict on Dec. 2. … Saint Mary's six goals vs. the Blazers were the most since the Cardinals scored six times in beating St. Olaf 6-3 on Nov. 17, 2016. … The Cardinals, who snapped a three-game losing streak with their 6-2 win over Saint Benedict on Dec. 1, scored more goals against the Blazers in that Dec. 1 game (6) than they had in the previous five games combined (5). … The Cardinals' 3-2 win over Lake Forest on Jan. 6 snapped a 22-game winless streak against the Foresters (0-17-5). Saint Mary's last win over Lake Forest had been a 2-0 victory on Feb. 13, 2002. … With their wins over Marian and St. Norbert in their first two games of the season, the Cardinals opened their season 2-0-0 for the second straight year—having also opened the 2016-17 season with back-to-back wins over Marian and St. Norbert. … With their win over Marian on Oct. 27, the Cardinals have now won their last three season-openers—including back-to-back victories over the Sabres each of their last two seasons. … Saint Mary's season-opening 5-3 win over Marian on Oct. 27 was the first collegiate coaching victory for the Cardinals' Greg Moore.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the final road game of the season for the Oles, who have won just two of their 14 road games (2-10-2), while owning a 2-6-1 record on their home ice at the Northfield Ice Arena. … St. Olaf's 5-3 win over Bethel last Friday snapped their four-game losing streak. The Oles are now 1-5-0 in their last six—having been outscored 38-6 in those five losses. … St. Olaf has surrendered six or more goals in 11 of its 23 games this season—including a season-high 10 goals against twice. The Oles dropped a 10-1 decision to UW-River Falls on Nov. 21, and allowed 10 more in a 10-2 setback against UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 9. … Jane Vezina scored three of the Oles' five goals in their 5-3 win over Bethel last Friday, while Mary Kate Eiden and Xandi Swedberg netted the other two. Swedberg also recorded a pair of assists vs. the Royals last Friday en route to the three-point game. Johanna Glaaser netted St. Olaf's lone goal in last Saturday's rematch with BU. … With her three goals against Bethel, Vezina pushed her team-leading goals total to 14. … Swedberg leads the Oles with nine assists, while Vezina's 19 points are a team best. … Vezina is one of four Oles with 10 or more points this season, being joined by Riley Anderson (15), Swedberg (13), and Kalli McCullen (10). … Vezina's hat trick last Friday vs. Bethel was her second three-goal game of the season, having also scored three times against Saint Benedict on Nov. 18. … St. Olaf's four game-winning goals this season have come from four different players—Vezina, Anderson, Mary-Kate Eiden, and Sydney Gish. … The Oles have used three different goalies this season, led by Sam Klemann, who has compiled a 3.72 goals-against-average and an .890 save percentage in 10 appearances. … Mae Moris (6.58 GAA, .819 save percentage) has appeared in 10 games, while Kaitylyn Pellicci (5.12 GAA, .879 save percentage) has played in seven games. … Klemann and Moris have both posted shutouts this season. Klemann stopped all 34 shots in St. Olaf's 1-0, season-opening win over UW-Stevens Point on Oct. 27, while Moris kicked out all 31 shots she faced in blanking Augsburg 2-0 on Jan. 26. … St. Olaf has been outscored 120-41—27-15 in the first period, 51-13 in the second, and 42-13 in the third. … St. Olaf has scored first in 12 of its 23 games, going 3-6-3. The Oles are just 1-10-0 when their opponent scores first. … St. Olaf has played three overtime games this season, with all three ending in ties.