By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team returns to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, as the Cardinals entertain St. Catherine in the first game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. Opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-1-0 MIAC, 1-4-0 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (0-2-0 MIAC, 3-2-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — November 15-16, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals split their conference-opening two-game series against Concordia, picking up a 4-3 win in the opener — thanks to Anya Hafiz's (Woodbury, Minn.) game-winning goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation — while dropping a 3-1 decision in the rematch | CC Recap 1 * CC Recap 2
• St. Catherine — November 15-16, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn./St. Peter, Minn.: The Wildcats came up empty in their first two conference games, falling to Gustavus 5-0 in the opener at Drake Arena, before dropping a 2-1 decision the following day at GAC's Don Roberts Ice Arena | GAC Recap 1 * GAC Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine — A Year Ago:
• January 18, 2019 * Drake Arena * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals needed to score back-to-back goals — one late in the second period and the other in the third — to rally for … yes, another overtime tie, this time a 2-2 deadlock against St. Catherine | Recap
• January 19, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) scored the game's only goal, and Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) stopped all 28 shots she faced, as Saint Mary's blanked the Wildcats 1-0 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Wildcats head to Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday for the second game of the teams' two-game conference series. Opening face-off is slated for 4:30 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Last Friday's 3-2 win over Concordia was the first collegiate coaching win for Cardinal HC Sarah Murray. … Friday's game against St. Catherine marks the fourth time in their first six games that the Cardinals have played on the road. Saint Mary's opened the season with three straight road contests — two at Adrian and the other at UW-River Falls, before last weekend's two home games against Concordia. … Three of the Cardinals' first five games have been against teams ranked in the top five of the USCHO.com Poll. Saint Mary's dropped 3-2 and 4-2 games to No. 3 Adrian on Nov. 2-3, while falling to No. 5 UW-River Falls 4-1 on Nov. 9. … Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) scored two of the Cardinals' four goals in last Friday's 4-3 win over Concordia, while Laura Folker (Cody, Wyo.) and Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) netted the other two. Carolyn Chrastka (Franklin Park, Ill.), meanwhile, scored Saint Mary's lone goal in last Saturday's rematch with the Cobbers. … Zebro's two-goal game was her third collegiate multiple-goal game. The sophomore also scored two goals against both Marian and UW-River Falls last season. … With her game-winning goal against Concordia last Friday, Hafiz has now scored in two of the Cardinals last three games and leads the team with three goals — one more than Zebro. … Folker, Chrastka, Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.), Kayla Henning (Burnsville, Minn.), and Amber Miller (Kasson, Minn.) have netted Saint Mary's other five goals this season. … Miller's goal against Adrian on Nov. 2 was her first as a Cardinal. … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) leads the team with three assists, while also sharing the team lead in points (3) with Hafiz and Miller. … Four of the Cardinals' 10 goals this season have come on the power play. … Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) finished with 23 saves against Concordia on Friday. … Keeley enters Saturday's rematch boasting a 3.03 goals-against-average and a .917 save percentage. … Keeley finished with a career-high 43 saves in Saint Mary's 4-2 loss to Adrian on Nov. 3. … Keeley's 43-save effort bettered her previous career-high by 12 saves. … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Minn.), who finished with 26 saves against Concordia last Saturday — including 20 in the second period — made a season-high 36 saves against UW-River Falls on Nov. 9. … Ziakas has now made 30 or more saves four times in her collegiate career — including a career-high 41 against Lake Forest on Jan. 7, 2018. … Ziakas heads into this weekend's conference games against St. Catherine boasting a 2.71 goals-against-average and .918 save percentage. … Saint Mary's 3-2 loss to Adrian on Nov. 2 snapped its four-year, season-opening winning streak. … Saint Mary's has scored six of its 10 goals this season in the second period. On the flip side, the Cardinals' opponents have scored eight of its 17 goals in the third period. … Saint Mary's has scored first in three of its five games, but are winless (0-3-0) in those three contests. … Saint Mary's is 1-1-0 when leading after two periods, while going 0-2-0 when trailing after two. … The Cardinals, who made their first MIAC Tournament appearance since the 2015-16 season a year ago — and their 11th in program history — were picked to finish sixth in the MIAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
Scouting The St. Catherine Wildcats:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the second straight road game for the Wildcats, who have played three of their first five games on their home ice. … St. Catherine opened the season with three straight wins — outscoring their opponents 20-5 — but SCU managed just one goal in its two games against No. 9 Gustavus last weekend. … Emily Anderson scored St. Catherine's lone goal in its conference-opening two-game series against ninth-ranked Gustavus — a first-period tally in Game 2. … With her goal against Gustavus last Saturday, Anderson moved into a tie with Nicole Maddox for the team lead with four goals, one more than both Sophia Gorski and Ashlyn Rakos. … Lindsey Hays is the team's assist leader with five, while Anderson and Maddox are atop the leaderboard in points with seven and six, respectively. … SCU has used three different goalies this season — Karly Schmidt and Bryce Boreen have each started two games, while Elizabeth Kubicek has made one start. … Schmidt owns a team-best 2.00 goals-against-average and a .925 save percentage. … Boreen has compiled a 2.39 GAA and .910 save percentage, with Kubicek sporting a 4.21GA and .714 save percentage. … Boreen has stopped a team-best 61 shots, 12 more than Schmidt. … St. Catherine has outscored its opponents 7-4 in the second period and 6-1 in the third. … The Wildcats have scored first just once in their first five games (1-0-0), while going 2-2-0 when their opponent scores first. … St. Catherine is 3-0-0 when leading after two periods, but are winless (0-2-0) when its opponent hold the lead heading into the third period. … The Wildcats' 23-play roster this season includes15 freshmen and sophomores, while the junior class makes of six of the eight upperclassmen.