By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team is back in post-season action on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to Augsburg's Ed Saugestad Rink for a 7 p.m. showdown against the Auggies in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game.
 
The Matchup:
• #5 Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-7-2 MIAC (5th), 9-14-3 Overall) at #1 Augsburg Auggies (13-1-2 MIAC (1st), 19-3-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | MIAC Tournament Homepage
 
Tournament Schedule:
Quarterfinals | Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019
• No. 5 Saint Mary's 5, No. 4 Concordia 2
Semifinals | Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019
• No. 3 St. Thomas at No. 2 Saint John's | 2 p.m. | Live Stats | Video |
• No. 5 Saint Mary's at No. 1 Augsburg | 7 p.m.
Championship | Saturday, March 2, 2019 | 7:00 p.m.
• Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed
 
Ticket Information:
• Admission to all MIAC Tournament games are $10 for Adults and $2 for students while children 5 & under are free. There is no senior discount. MIAC Passes will be honored. No other passes are to be accepted.
 
How They Got Here:
• Augsburg: The Auggies locked up their 10^th MIAC regular-season title with their 4-1 win over Concordia on Feb. 15, earning Augsburg the No. 1 seed, home-ice advantage throughout the MIAC Tournament, and the quarterfinal-round bye.
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals headed into post-season play as the conference's fifth seed. Saint Mary's locked up their third MIAC Tournament appearance in the last five years with a 5-2 win over St. Olaf on Feb. 15, and advanced to the post-season semifinals with a 5-2 win over Concordia on Thursday in the quarterfinal-round game.
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 21, 2019 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Cardinals scored the game's first three goals — and got scoring from five different players — as Saint Mary's dropped fourth-seeded Concordia 5-2 in an MIAC Tournament quarterfinal game at Moorhead Sports Center | Recap
• Augsburg—February 15-16, 2019 * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Auggies have been off for the past week, having closed out the regular season with a sweep of Concordia. Augsburg dropped the Cobbers 4-1 in the first game of their two-game series at Ed Saugestad Rink on Feb. 15, before completing the sweep with a 5-4, overtime win the following day | CC Recap 1 * CC Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — Earlier This Year:
• November 16, 2018 * Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg scored two unanswered goals — including the game-winner on a penalty shot less than two minutes into overtime — as the Auggies rallied for a 2-1 conference victory over the Cardinals at Ed Saugestad Rink | Recap
• November 17, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: For the second time in as many days, the Cardinals scored the game's first goal in its conference showdown against Augsburg. Unfortunately, for the second straight game, Saint Mary's could not maintain a stranglehold on that one goal lead, as Augsburg rattled off four unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to deal Saint Mary's a 4-1 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The winner of tonight's earns a spot opposite in the MIAC Tournament championship game next Saturday. If the Cardinals win, they will go on the road next Saturday to face the winner of the St. Thomas/Saint John's semifinal. If the Auggies win, they will host the winner of the St. Thomas/Saint John's semifinal at Ed Saugestad Rink next Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals are making their third MIAC Tournament appearance in the last five years — including a run to the MIAC Tournament title game in 2015. Saint Mary's faced Augsburg in its most recent playoff appearance, falling to the Auggies 5-4 in overtime on Feb. 25, 2017. … Saint Mary's showdown against top-seeded and eighth-ranked Augsburg marks the seventh time this season the Cardinals have faced a team ranked in the USCHO.com Top 15. … Saint Mary's enters Saturday's semifinal matchup against Augsburg play having won three straight, four of their last five, and five of their last seven. … Seventeen of the Cardinals' 26 games this season have been decided by two goals or less. The Cardinals have played in nine one-goal contests and have had six going into overtime. … Saint Mary's five goals against Concordia in Thursday's 5-2 win came from five different players — Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska), Lance Herning (St. Charles, Ill.), Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.). … With his empty net goal against Concordia on Thursday, Tommy Stang's has now scored in four straight games — and has six goals in the last seven. … Tommy Stang leads the team with a single-season career-high 13 goals, four more than Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.). … Tommy Stang is the second Cardinal to score goals in four straight games — joining Sikich, who had his streak snapped against UW-Stout on Jan. 17. Saint Mary's also boasts four others — Ryan Charko (Warren, N.J.), Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario), Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.), and Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) — who had three-game goal-scoring streaks this season. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) was held off the scoresheet in Saint Mary's 5-1 loss to Gustavus on Jan. 26, snapping his season-, team-, and career-high five-game point streak (3 G, 4 A). … Jack Stang picked up his team-leading 14^th assist against the Cobbers Thursday, giving the junior two more helpers than Robertson and four more than Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario). … Jack Stang has now recorded an assist in back-to-back games and owns five helpers in the last six contests. … Along with his team-high 13 goals, Tommy Stang also leads the team in points with 22, followed by Jack Stang (18), Sikich (17), Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario / 16), Hatton (14), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo. / 14), Robertson (14), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta / 14), and Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill. / 13). … 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 boasts eight players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season —Liverance, Hatton, Stoynich, Sikich, Herning, Carter Dahl (Fresno, Calif.), Holden Biebel (Englewood, Colo.), and Tucker Chapman (Rochester, Minn.). … Saint Mary's has netted 19 power-play goals this season, with Tommy Stang leading the way with six. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) — who made 32 saves in the Cardinals' post season-opening 5-2 win over Concordia on Thursday — recorded his first collegiate shutout against Gustavus on Jan. 25, stopping all 28 shots he faced. … Nast owns seven games of 30 of more saves, including a season-high 38-save effort against Bethel on Feb. 2. … Nast — who collected his first collegiate assist against Gustavus on Oct. 26 — heads into Saint Mary's post-season showdown against Augsburg with a 2.75 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage. … Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) 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 in six starts that Rogers has stopped 30 or more shots — including a season- and career-high 43 against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 10. … Rogers boasts a 3.27 GAA and .902 save percentage. … 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 first shutout of the season for the Cardinals — 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 have scored first in 16 of their 26 games, going 9-5-2 in those 16 contests. Saint Mary's is 0-9-1 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … Saint Mary's is 9-1-0 when leading after two periods, but the Cardinals are still searching for their first win (0-10-3) when trailing heading into the game's final period.
 
Scouting The Augsburg Auggies:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Statistics | 2018-19 Schedule
• The top-seeded Auggies are making their 10^th straight MIAC Tournament appearance — and the three-time defending MIAC Tournament champion. … Augsburg, which has not played since sweeping Concordia to close out the regular season on Feb. 15-16, enters post-season play having won three straight and are unbeaten in their last six (5-0-1). … Augsburg is currently ranked No. 6 in the latest D3hockey.com Poll and No. 7 in the USCHO.com Poll. … Alex Rodriguez heads into post-season play as the Auggies goal-scoring leader with 18. Luke Dietsch and Chandler Madry have also recorded 10 or more goals this season, coming into Saturday's game vs. Saint Mary's with 11 and 10 goals, respectively. … Augsburg boasts six players with 10 or more assists, led by Madry with 17, Tommy Carey with 16, and Rodriguez and Dietsch with 15 each. … Augsburg has 10 players with 10 or more points, and four — Rodriguez (33), Madry (27), Dietsch (26), and Carey (24) — with 20 or more. … Nineteen of the 21 Auggie players who have seen playing time this season have scored at least one goal, and all 21 have recorded at least one point. … Carey (5) and Dietsch (4) have accounted for nine of the Auggies' 22 power-play goals this season. … Eric Brenk has netted a team-leading five game-winning goals, one more than Rodriguez. … Nick Schmit has started 20 of the Auggies' 25 games in goal, compiling a 2.09 goals-against-average and .926 save percentage. … Schmit has made 497 saves and owns six games of 30 or more saves — including a season-high 38 against then-No.3 St. Norbert on Dec. 7. … Augsburg has scored 96 goals this season (3.8 gpg) and have scored four or more goals in a game 14 times — including five of their last six. … Augsburg netted a season-high seven goals in dropping Hamline 7-2 on Jan. 5. … The Auggies have played four one-goal games this season — winning all four. Augsburg is 5-2 in games decided by two goals, and 10-1 in games decided by three or more goals. … Augsburg has outscored its opponents in every period — 24-20 in the first, 34-22 in the second, and 34-13 in the third. … The Auggies have played seven overtime games this season, going 4-0-3. Augsburg has posted overtime wins over Saint Mary's (2-1), St. Norbert (6-5), UW-Stout (3-2), and Concordia (5-4), while tying St. Thomas (2-2), St. Norbert (3-3), and Saint John's (2-2). … The Auggies are 9-1-3 when scoring first, while going 10-2-0 when their opponent nets the game's first goal. … Augsburg heads into Saturday's showdown with Saint Mary's a near-perfect 10-1-2 on its home ice. The Auggies are 9-2-1 away form Ed Saugestad Rink this season.