By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team closes out the regular-season portion of its schedule on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to the Northfield Ice Arena for the second game of their two-game conference series against St. Olaf. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-9-2 MIAC, 9-13-2 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (3-12-2 MIAC, 4-17-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Video
 
Last Night:
• February 16, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) stopped all 22 shots she faced, and the Cardinals got two goals from Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) en route to a 4-0 MIAC win over the Oles at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
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:
• Saturday's game is the regular-season finale for both the Cardinals and Oles.
 
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 (6-7-4, 16 points), Bethel (6-9-2, 14 points), and Saint Mary's (6-9-2, 14 points) to battle for the two remaining spots. In order for the Cardinals' to receive one of those two post-season invitations, they must beat the Oles in Saturday's rematch—and have Concordia lose to Augsburg or Bethel lose to St. Catherine … or, tie the Oles, and have Bethel lost to St. Catherine.
 
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.). … Friday's 4-0 win over St. Olaf was the Cardinals' fifth home win of the season—after winning just once at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena a year ago (1-8-3). … Friday's victory over the Oles was Saint Mary's ninth of the season—the most since going 10-13-2 during the 2015-16 season. … The Cardinals' 4-0 win over St. Olaf snapped a streak of four straight victories that were decided by two goals or less—having won 4-2 vs. Bethel, 3-2 over Concordia and Lake Forest, and 2-1 over Saint Benedict. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored two goals, while Kayla Pierson (Shorewood, Ill.) and Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) netted the other two against St. Olaf Friday. … Ryan's two-goal effort was her second career multiple-goal game—the sophomore also scored two goals against Concordia on Jan. 12. … 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 Saturday's game against St. Olaf as the team-leader in goals (13) and points (18). … Moser, who assisted on one of Saint Mary's four goals vs. St. Olaf Friday, owns a team-best 12 assists, three more than Ryan. … Moser and Cwik are tied for second in points with 14, while Ryan has 13 and Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) has 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 on Feb. 3 marked the fourth time this season the freshman has had 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 all 22 shots she faced against St. Olaf Friday night en route to her first collegiate shutout. … Corcoran 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. … Corcoran boasts a 2.66 goals-against-average and a .916 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 33 goals in their nine wins this season, while managing a combined 17 goals in their 13 losses. … The Cardinals are 5-3-0 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). … 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' 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 was the final road game of the season for the Oles, who have won just two of their 15 road games (2-11-2), while owning a 2-6-1 record on their home ice at the Northfield Ice Arena. … With Friday's loss to Saint Mary's, the Oles are now 1-6-0 in their last seven games—the lone win, a 5-3 victory over Bethel on Feb. 9—and have been outscored 42-6 in those six losses. … St. Olaf has surrendered six or more goals in 11 of its 24 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 on Feb. 9, while Mary Kate Eiden and Xandi Swedberg netted the other two. Swedberg also recorded a pair of assists vs. the Royals on Feb. 9 en route to the three-point game. Johanna Glaaser netted St. Olaf's lone goal in last Saturday's rematch with Bethel. … 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 against Bethel on Feb. 9 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 (6.20 GAA, .826 save percentage) has appeared in 11 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 124-41—28-15 in the first period, 52-13 in the second, and 44-13 in the third. … St. Olaf has scored first in 12 of its 24 games, going 3-6-3. The Oles are just 1-11-0 when their opponent scores first. … St. Olaf has played three overtime games this season, with all three ending in ties.