By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team steps out of conference play for a final time on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain UW-River Falls in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-6-1 Overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (11-4-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — January 17, 2020 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Alex Rickoff (Winona, Minn.), Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.), Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), and Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) all picked up two points in leading the Cardinals to a 5-1 nonconference win over UW-Stout | Recap
• UW-River Falls — January 17, 2020 * St. Olaf Ice Arena * Northfield, Minn.: The Falcons scored twice in both the first and second periods and rolled to a 4-0 nonconference win over the host Oles | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls — Their Last Meeting:
• November 5, 2016 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's erupted for four first-period goals — including two by Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) — and got another two-goal effort by Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) in recording a 5-3 nonconference win | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action next weekend, facing off against Bethel. The Cardinals and Royals square off at 7 p.m. at Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., on Friday, before heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons return to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend with a pair of 7 p.m. games at UW-Stevens Point.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• The Cardinals, who head into their showdown against UW-River Falls Saturday having played 10 of their last 14 games on the road. The Cardinals are 2-3-1 on their home ice this season, while going 5-3-0 away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With Friday's 5-1 win over UW-Stout, the Cardinals head into Saturday's game against UW-River Falls having won five of their last six. Saint Mary's had its season-high three-game winning streak snapped with its 5-4 loss to St. Thomas on Jan. 10. … The Cardinals boasted four players who picked up two points against UW-Stout Friday — Alex Rickoff (Winona, Minn.) and Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) each had a goal and an assist, while Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) each recorded two assists. … Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), Ian Currie (Franklin, Tenn.), and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) netted Saint Mary's other three goals vs. the Blue Devils. … Meeh's goal against UW-Stout Friday gives the senior three goals and three assists in the Cardinals' last three games. … Meeh scored two goals in Saint Mary's 5-4 loss to St. Thomas on Jan. 10, then added three assists in the Cardinals' 4-1 win the following evening, earning the senior his second MIAC Athlete of the Week honor. … Meeh's two-goal effort against St. Thomas on Jan. 10 marked the second time this season — and third time in his collegiate career — that the senior has netted two goals in a game. His three-assist showing the following evening was also a career-high. … With his goal against UW-Stout on Friday, Stoynich extended his point streak to six straight games. Stoynich has three goals and five assists during that six-game span. … With his goal against UW-Stout on Friday, Meeh pushed his team goal-scoring lead to eight, two more than Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.). … Jack Stang, who recorded his fifth two-assist game this season against UW-Stout on Friday, leads the team in both assists (14) and points (17). … Tommy Stang (13), Meeh (13), and Stoynich (10) have all cracked the 10-point barrier this season. … With his goal against UW-Stout on Friday, Rickoff became the ninth Cardinal to net his first collegiate goal this season — joining Lindauer, Currie, Robert Roslund (Vanersborg, Sweden), Sam Hanson (Eau Claire, Wis.), Thomas Magnavite (Chicago, Ill.), Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.), Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia), and Sam Schultz (Lakeland, Minn.). … The Cardinals have had a multiple-goal scorer four times this season — Meeh vs. Concordia on Nov. 23 and vs. St. Thomas Friday, Jack Stang against Williams on Jan. 3, Meeh against Concordia on Nov. 23, and Magnavite against Lake Forest on Nov. 1. … Meeh and Tommy Stang have each scored shorthanded goals this season. … Al Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) — who recorded his first collegiate shutout, a 30-save showing against No. 10 Oswego on Jan. 3 — kicked out 21 UW-Stout shots Friday evening. … Rogers has posted 30 or more saves in three of his last five starts — including a season-high 37 saves against No. 14 Williams on Jan. 4 — and eight times in his collegiate career. … Rogers heads into Saturday's nonconference game against UW-River Falls boasting a 2.66 goals-against-average and a .913 save percentage. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) has stopped a team-high 174 shots in seven starts in goal this season. … With his 30-save effort against MSOE on Nov. 26, Nast has now stopped 30 or more shots nine times in the last two seasons. … Nast boasts a 3.42 goals-against-average and an .888 save percentage this season. … Parker Swanson (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who stopped all seven shots he faced in relief of Rogers against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 9 — his first collegiate appearance in goal — made eight saves in relief of Nast against Gustavus on Dec. 6. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 13-11 in the first period, but have been outscored 14-13 in the second and 19-13 in the third. … The Cardinals' 3-2, 5-0 sweep of Concordia on Nov. 15-16 marked the first time since Nov. 12-13, 2010 that Saint Mary's has swept the Cobbers. … Saint Mary's 5-4 win over Gustavus on Dec. 7 was its third overtime game of the season — the Cardinals opened the season with a 3-3 tie against Lake Forest on Nov. 1 and added a 3-2 win over Concordia on Nov. 15. … With their 5-4 loss to St. Thomas on Jan. 10, the Cardinals have now played 16 games decided by one goal or less — including nine that have gone into overtime — over the past two seasons. … Saint Mary's has scored first in seven of its 14 games, going 4-3-0. The Cardinals are 3-3-1 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 5-0-1 when leading after two, while going 0-3-0 when trialing heading into the third period. … Both of Saint Mary's wins at the Pathfinder/Oswego State Hockey Classic on Jan. 3-4 came against nationally ranked foes — No. 10 Oswego and No. 14 Williams. … Rogers, Tommy Stang, and Jack Stang were all named to the Pathfinder/Oswego State Hockey Classic all-tournament team, with Rogers being named tournament MVP. … The Cardinals' 3-2 overtime win over Concordia on Nov. 15 snapped their four-game, season-opening winless streak (0-3-1) — it was also the first collegiate coaching win for Cardinal head coach Ryan Egan. … The Cardinals — picked to finish sixth in the MIAC Preseason Coaches Poll — 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.
 
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Saturday's game at Saint Mary's is the third of seven straight road games for the Falcons, who are 5-1-1 on the road this season, while sporting a 6-3-1 mark at W.H. Hunt Arena. … With their win over St. Olaf on Friday, the Falcons pushed their winning streak to six straight. … Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the eighth game against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Falcons are 5-1-1 against the MIAC thus far — their lone loss, a 3-2 decision against Concordia on Nov. 8. … The Falcons' four goals against St. Olaf Friday came from four different players — Gabe Wahl, Sam Anzai, Trey Bagwell, and Cayden Cahill. … Ryan Cusin enters Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading 10 goals, one more than both Cayhill and Christian Hausinger. … Hausinger has amassed a team-high 15 assists — including two against St. Olaf on Friday — owns the team's points lead with 24, one more than Cusin. … Cusin and Hausinger are two of four Falcons with 10 or more points through 18 games — Cahill (15) and Peter Karavos (13) are the others. … UW-River Falls has scored 23 power-play goals this season, led by Cusin, Cahill, and Hausinger with six each. … Cusin has netted a team-best three game-winning goals, one more than both Cahill and Joel Frazee. … Zach Quinn and Kade Phipps have shared the goaltending duties this season. Quinn boasts a 1.53 goals-against-average and .938 save percentage in 11 games (665:11), while Phipps owns a 2.98 GAA and .883 save % in 6 games (362:57). … Quinn has made 255 saves — including stopping all 21 St. Olaf shots on Friday — with Phipps kicking out 136. … UW-River Falls has allowed just two first-period goals this season — outscoring their opponents 14-2 in the opening 20 minutes. … UW-River Falls has scored first in 12 of its 18 games, going 9-2-1. The Falcons are 2-2-1 when their opponent scores first. … The Falcons are 5-1 in one-goal games this season, but are winless (0-2-0) in two-goal contests. UWRF has won six of seven games decided by three goals or more. … UW-River Falls has scored four or more goals eight times — including a season-high six goals in back-to-back wins over Bethel (6-3) and UW-Stout *6-2).