By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team returns to action on Tuesday, as the Cardinals host nationally ranked UW-River Falls in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-6-2 Overall) vs. No. 6 UW-River Falls Falcons (12-2-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—January 4-5, 2019 * Stevens Point, Wis.: The Cardinals played to a pair of overtime ties in their two games at the UW-Stevens Point Crossover Tournament at Ice Hawk Arena, battling host UW-Stevens Point to a 1-1 draw last Friday, before repeating that 1-1 showing against Marian the following day | UW-SP Recap * Marian Recap
• UW-River Falls—January 4, 2019 * Northfield, Minn.: The Falcons scored three unanswered goals — one in the first period and two in the second — in cruising to a 3-1 nonconference win over St. Olaf at the St. Olaf Ice Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls  — The Last Meeting:
• November 3, 2006 * River Falls, Wis.: Nikki Jung recorded 50 saves — and the two teams combined for four third-period goals — as the Cardinals opened their season with a 2-2 tie against the Falcons at W.H. Hunt Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to conference play this weekend, as Saint Mary's heads to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., for a pair of MIAC games against Concordia. The Cardinals and Cobbers square off at 7 p.m. Friday evening, before completing the two-game series at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons are back in action this weekend, heading to Ashland, Wis., for a pair of nonconference games against Northland. UW-RF and Northland will play at 7 p.m. on Friday night, with Saturday's rematch slated for 2 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• The Cardinals are in a stretch of playing six of seven games on the road — the lone exception, Tuesday's nonconference game against UW-River Falls. … Saint Mary's game against No. 6 UW-River Falls on Tuesday will be the fourth against a nationally ranked opponent. The Cardinals played a pair of games against then-No. 9 St. Thomas on No. 9-10, and faced then-No. 10 UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 20. … Saint Mary's played its first two overtime games of the season last weekend at the UW-Stevens Point Crossover Tournament — with both contests ending in 1-1 ties. … Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) scored Saint Mary's lone goal in last Friday's 1-1 tie against UW-Stevens Point, while Lexie Budensiek (Farmington, Minn.) netted the Cardinals' goal — off an assist from Wolf — in their 1-1 tie vs. Marian the following day. … With their two ties last weekend, the Cardinals enter Tuesday's showdown against nationally ranked UW-River Falls 2-1-2 in their last five games. … The Cardinals' last two wins were both been 3-0 shutouts — Saint Mary's blanked Saint Benedict 3-0 on Nov. 30 and UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 8. … Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) netted two of Saint Mary's three goals in its 3-0 win over Saint Benedict on Nov. 30. It was her two-goal game this season — and her fourth in her three-year collegiate career. … Ryan heads into the Cardinals' nonconference matchup against UW-River Falls on Tuesday leading the team in goals with five. … Carolyn Chrastka (Franklin Park, Ill.), Wolf, and Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) are all second to Ryan with three goals each. … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) picked up her team-leading sixth assist of the season on Wolf's goal against UW-Stevens Point last Friday. … Moser also leads the team with seven points, one more than Ryan, Chrastka, and Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.). … Saint Mary's 22 goals this season have come from 10 different players, while 15 Cardinals have recorded at least one point. … Zebro 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. … Chrastka, Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), and Budensiek 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. … Lauren Folker (Cody, Wyo.) is the fifth Cardinal to net her first collegiate goal this season, scoring one of Saint Mary's three goals in its 3-0 win over UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 8. … Ryan, Zebro, Chrastka, and Wolf own the Cardinals' four game-winning goals. … Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) stopped all 22 shots she faced against Saint Benedict on Nov. 30 en route to her first shutout of the season and second of her collegiate career. … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) posted her first collegiate shutout in the Cardinals' first meeting with UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 8, stopping all 24 Pointer shots. … Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) stopped all 16 shots she faced in recording her first collegiate shutout — in her first collegiate start — against Marian on Oct. 27. … Corcoran finished with a season-high 39 saves against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 20 — including 20 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … Keeley 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 four of her five starts — 28 vs. UW-Stevens Point, 28 and 24 against St. Thomas, and 29 vs. Augsburg. … Ziakas leads the Cardinal goaltending crops with a 1.52 goals-against-average and .932 save percentage. Corcoran is close behind with a 2.02 GAA and team-best .935 save percentage, while Keeley owns a 2.16 GAA and .921 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored eight goals in the first period and eight in the third, while netting six goals in the second period. On the flip side, Saint Mary's opponents have netted 13 of their 25 goals in the game's final 20 minutes. … Six of the nine goals scored between Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 were scored in the first period. The Cardinals scored all three of their goals in their 3-0 win vs. Saint Benedict on Nov. 20 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 has scored first in all four 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-River Falls Falcons:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• UW-River Falls enters Tuesday's matchup against Saint Mary's ranked No. 6 in the latest USCHO.com Poll. … Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the fifth of seven consecutive road games for the Falcons, who are 5-1 on the road this season. … UW-River Falls had its 10-game winning streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to No. 7 St. Thomas on Dec. 12 — it was the Falcons' first setback since falling to Adrian 4-3 to open the season on Oct. 27. … The Falcons rebounded from that 3-1 setback to St. Thomas with back-to-back wins over Augsburg (7-1) and St. Olaf (3-1). … Alyson Niebur, Erica Schramel, and Callie Hoff netted UW-River Falls' three goals against St. Olaf last Saturday. … Hoff's second-period goal against St. Olaf last Saturday was her team-leading 13^th of the season. … Abigail Stow and Madi Nolan are second to Hoff with six goals each. … Bella Wagner is the team's assist leader, boasting 10 helpers. … UW-River Falls has five players with 10 or more points through 13 games, led by Hoff with 16. Wagner (14), Stow (12), Kathryn Larson (11), and Nolan (10). … UW-River Falls has had 19 different players score at least one goal, while every Falcon has recorded at least two points. … UW-River Falls has scored 11 power-play goals, led by Hoff with three. Hoff also owns two shorthanded tallies and three game-winning goals. … Nolan has also posted three game-winning goals this season. … Tatyana Delaittre and Sami Miller have shared the goaltending duties, with Delaittre compiling a 1.29 goals-against-average and .939 save percentage, while Miller boasts a 1.41 GAA and .924 save percentage. … Delaittre has stopped a team-high 153 shots, with Miller owning 97 saves. … Delaittre has recorded two shutouts this season — making five saves against Concordia and 11 in blanking UW-Stevens Point — and Miller compiled a 12-save shutout against Gustavus. … UW-River Falls has outscored its opponents 59-121 — including 21-5 in the first period, and 26-9 in the second. … Seven of the Falcons' 12 wins have been by three goals or more. … UW-River Falls is 10-1-0 when scoring first, while going 2-1-0 when its opponent nets the game's first goal.