By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team officially kicks off its 2019-20 season on Friday, as the Cardinals entertain Lake Forest in the first of two nonconference games at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2018-19: 9-13-3 Overall) vs. Lake Forest Foresters (2018-19: 12-10-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's­­—October 26, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals scored a pair of third-period goals, but it was not enough, as Saint Mary's dropped a 4-2 decision to Marian in an exhibition game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
• Lake Forest—February 23, 2019 * Adrian, Mich.: Adrian scored the game's first three goals, and the Foresters never recovered, as Lake Forest dropped a 5-1 decision to the Bulldogs in the semifinals of the NCHA Harris Cup | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Lake Forest — Their Last Meeting:
• November 23, 2018 * Alumni Memorial Arena * Lake Forest, Ill.: Lake Forest scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in the second period, as the Foresters dealt Saint Mary's a 2-1 setback | Recap
• November 24, 2018 * Alumni Memorial Arena * Lake Forest, Ill.: The Cardinals erupted for a season-high four goals — including two from Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) early in the third period — as Saint Mary's rallied from a 4-2 deficit to earn a 4-4 overtime tie with Lake Forest in the teams' nonconference rematch | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Foresters return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena Saturday afternoon for the second game of their two-game nonconference series. Puck drop is slated for 3 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2018-19 Final Statistics
• Saint Mary's returns three MIAC post-season award-winners from a year ago. Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) and Tommy Stang (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) were both named First-Team All-MIAC, while Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario) was selected to the MIAC All-Rookie Team. … The Cardinals made their third MIAC Tournament appearance in the last five years a year ago. The Cardinals kicked off post-season play with a 5-2 win over Concordia, before falling to Augsburg 8-1 in the semifinals. … Saint Mary's has now been eliminated from post-season play by Augsburg in each of their last two MIAC Tournament appearances. … Saint Mary's MIAC Tournament loss to top-seeded and eighth-ranked Augsburg marked the seventh time the Cardinals faced a team ranked in the USCHO.com Top 15. … Saint Mary's closed out the season having won three of its last four, four of its last six, and five of its last eight. … Seventeen of the Cardinals' 27 games a year ago were been decided by two goals or less. The Cardinals played in nine one-goal contests and had six go into overtime. … Tommy Stang closed out his sophomore season leading the team with a single-season career-high 13 goals, four more than Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.). … Stang had his four-game goal-scoring streak snapped in the MIAC Tournament semifinal loss to Augsburg. Stang was the second Cardinal to score goals in four straight games last season — joining Sikich, who had his streak snapped against UW-Stout on Jan. 17. Saint Mary's also boasted four others — Ryan Charko (Warren, N.J.), Liverance, Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.), and Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) — who had three-game goal-scoring streaks last season. … Tommy Stang closed out the season scoring six goals in his last eight games. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) — who owned a team- and career-high five-game point streak last season — closed out the year with a team- and career-high 15 assists, two more than Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) and five more than Liverance. … Jack Stang closed out the year with assists in three straight games, and had six helpers in his last seven contests. … Along with his team-high 13 goals, Tommy Stang also led the team in points with 22, followed by Jack Stang (19), Sikich (17), Liverance (16), Robertson (15), Meeh (15), Hatton (14), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta / 14), and DiBacco (14). … Along with his third-period goal against St. Olaf on Feb. 15, Hatton also had a pair of assists vs. the Oles en route to his first collegiate three-point contest. … Meeh — who collected his first collegiate two-goal game with a pair of tallies 25 seconds apart in Saint Mary's 4-4 tie against Lake Forest on Nov. 24 — added a pair of assists to his second-period goal against Hamline on Feb. 9 for his first three-point game of the season, and second of his collegiate career. … Sikich recorded his first collegiate three-point game in the Cardinals' 4-1 win over Bethel on Feb. 1 with a goal and two assists. … Liverance had a hand in all three goals — scoring once and assisting on the other two — in Saint Mary's 5-3 loss to St. Thomas on Nov. 3. … All three of the Cardinals' goals in their 3-3 tie against St. Thomas on Nov. 2 were scored by freshmen. Liverance picked up his first two collegiate goals, while Hatton scored the other. … Saint Mary's netted 20 power-play goals last season, with Tommy Stang leading the way with six. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) closed out the year with a 2.95 goals-against-average and .900 save percentage in a team-leading 20 games between the pipes. … Nast, who owned seven games of 30 or more saves — including a season-high 38-save effort against Bethel on Feb. 2 — recorded his first collegiate shutout against Gustavus on Jan. 25, stopping all 28 shots he faced. … Nast also collected his first collegiate assist against Gustavus on Oct. 26. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) — who compiled a 3.31 GAA and .901 save percentage in nine appearances in goal — finished with 37 saves in the Cardinals' 5-3 loss to Concordia on Jan. 11. The 37-save showing against the Cobbers marked the fourth time that Rogers stopped 30 or more shots in a game — including a season- and career-high 43 against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 10. … Blair Sanders (Kansas City, Mo.) made his first collegiate appearance between the pipes against St. Olaf on Feb. 16, stopped all 10 third-period shots he faced. … Saint Mary's 2-0 win over Gustavus on Jan. 25 was the Cardinals' lone shutout of the season — and the first since blanking the Gusties 1-0 on Jan. 26, 2018. … Saint Mary's seven-goal outburst in its 7-2 win over Concordia on Jan. 12 was a season-high — and marked the highest single-game goal total since scoring seven against UW-Stout in a 7-4 win on Jan. 19, 2018. … The Cardinals scored first in 16 of their 27 games, going 9-5-2 in those 16 contests. Saint Mary's was 0-9-1 when its opponent netted the game's first goal. … Saint Mary's finished 9-1-0 when leading after two periods, but the Cardinals were winless (0-10-3) when trailing heading into the game's final period. 
 
Scouting The Lake Forest Foresters:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2018-19 Final Statistics
• The Foresters head into this weekend's season-opening series against Saint Mary's on the heels of a 12-10-6 showing in 2018-19 — and an appearance in the NCHA Harris Cup semifinals. … Eight of the Foresters 12 wins a year ago were on their home ice, while four of the team's six ties were away from Alumni Memorial Rink. … Aaron O'Neill closed out the year as the team's goal-scoring leader with 12, two more than Joe Sardina and three in front of Josh Giacomin. … Bron Loiselle led the Foresters in assists (15) and shared the team lead in points (20) wit Sardina. … Lake Forest had 17 players accounted for its 81 goals a year ago, while 23 different Foresters recorded at least one point. … The Foresters had five players — Giacomin, Cullen Kane, Loiselle, O'Neill, and Kyler Magus — score two game-winning goals each, with Sardina and Will Lebel netting the other two. … Lake Forest opens the 2018-19 season without the services of graduated goaltenders George Argiropoulos and Louis-Phillippe De Courcy, who combined to play all but nine minutes between the pipes a year ago. Argiropoulos compiled a 2.21 goals-against-average and .928 save percentage in 17 starts, while De Courcy owns a 2.37 GAA and .924 save percentage in 11 starts. … Argiropoulos closed out the year with 505 saves, followed by 304 from De Courcy. … Lake Forest outscored its opponents 81-69 last season — including 28-19 in the first period and 26-22 in the second. … Lake Forest scored first in 11 of its 12 wins, going 11-3-2 when netting the game's first goal, while finishing 1-7-4 when its opponent scored first. … Lake Forest scored a season-high eight goals in beating Lawrence 8-1 on Nov. 10. On the flip side, the Foresters allowed four of more goals eight times — including a season-high six in falling to Adrian 6-3 on Feb. 1. … The Foresters played eight overtime games a year ago, going 1-1-6. Lake Forest beat Finlandia (3-2), lost to Concordia-WI (2-1), and tied UW-Superior (3-3), Northland (2-2), Saint Mary's (4-4), St. Norbert (1-1), MSOE (2-2), and Aurora (5-5).