By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team is back on its home ice at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, as the Cardinals entertain nationally ranked Augsburg in the first of their two-game MIAC series. Opening face-off is slated for 7 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-4-0 MIAC, 6-8-1 Overall) vs. #10 Augsburg Auggies (7-2-1 MIAC, 12-5-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — January 24-25, 2020 * Schwan's Super Rink/Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Blaine/Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals came up empty in their two-game MIAC series against Bethel, falling to the Royals 4-3 in overtime, before surrendering four unanswered goals in dropping the rematch 5-3 | BU Recap 1 * BU Recap 2
• Augsburg — January 24-25, 2020 * Ed Saugestad Rink/National Hockey Center * Minneapolis/St. Cloud, Minn.: The Auggies split their two conference games against Saint John's — with both teams winning on the road. Augsburg fell to the Johnnies 5-2 on Friday, before bouncing back with a 5-0 win the following evening | SJU Recap 1 * SJU Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — A Year Ago:
• November 16, 2019 * Ed Saugestad Rink * 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 victory over the Cardinals | Recap
• November 17, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Augsburg — coming off a 2-1 overtime win over Saint Mary's the night before — rattled off four unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to deal Saint Mary's a 4-1 setback | Recap
• February 23, 2019 * Ed Saugestad Rink * Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg erupted for six unanswered goals, including five in the second period, breaking opening a one-goal game and leading the Auggies to an 8-1 victory over the Cardinals — and an MIAC Tournament title game berth against Saint John's | Recap


Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Auggies return to action on Saturday night, heading to Augsburg's Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for the 7 p.m. rematch.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Friday's game against Augsburg is the second straight home game for the Cardinals, who have played 11 of their last 16 games on the road. Saint Mary's is 2-5-1 on their home ice this season, while going 5-4-0 away from the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … Last Friday's 4-3 loss to Bethel was the Cardinals' fourth overtime game of the season — and their first loss. Saint Mary's owns OT wins over Concordia (3-2) and Gustavus (5-4), while battling Lake Forest to a 3-3 tie. … Saint Mary's nine points against Bethel Friday — three goals and six assists — came from nine different players, including goals from Sam Schultz (Lakeland, Minn.), Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.), and Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta). … Sikich, Kyle Meeh, and Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.) scored Saint Mary's three goals in last Saturday's rematch with the Royals. … With his goal Friday and assist Saturday against Bethel, Stoynich has now recorded at least one point in eight of the Cardinals' last nine games. … The Cardinals boasted four players who picked up two points against UW-Stout on Jan. 17 — 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. … 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 Bethel last Saturday, Meeh pushed his team goal-scoring lead to nine — a single-game career high. … Jack Stang, who recorded his fifth two-assist game this season against UW-Stout on Jan. 17, leads the team in both assists (15) and points (18). … Tommy Stang (15), Meeh (15), and Stoynich (14) have all cracked the 10-point barrier this season. … With his goal against UW-Stout on Jan. 17, 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 on Jan. 17, Jack Stang against Williams on Jan. 3, Meeh against Concordia on Nov. 23, and Magnavite against Lake Forest on Nov. 1. … Four of Meeh's nine goals have come on the power-play — a team high — while Meeh and Tommy Stang have accounted for the Cardinals' two 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 38 Bethel shots last weekend. … Rogers has posted 30 or more saves three times this season — including a season-high 37 saves against No. 14 Williams on Jan. 4 — and eight times in his collegiate career. … Rogers heads into this weekend's series against Augsburg boasting a 3.06 goals-against-average and an .891 save percentage. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.), who has compiled a 3.42 goals-against-average and an .888 save percentage in seven starts, has stopped 30 or more shots nine times in the last two seasons. … 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 14-13 in the first period, but have been outscored 17-16 in the second and 26-15 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. … With their 4-3 overtime loss to Bethel last Friday, the Cardinals have now played 17 games decided by one goal or less — including 10 that have gone into overtime — over the past two seasons. … Saint Mary's has scored first in nine of its 17 games, going 4-5-0. The Cardinals are 3-4-1 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 5-1-1 when leading after two periods, while going 0-4-0 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• With last weekend's split against Saint John's, the Auggies are now 2-3-1 in their last six games — with both wins coming via shutout. Augsburg had opened the season with 10 wins in its first 12 games. … The Auggies enter this weekend's games against Saint Mary's ranked No. 10 in the latest USCHO.com Top 15. … Augsburg's seven goals against Saint John's last weekend came from six different players. Jonathan Waring and Jack Johnson scored Augsburg's two goals in last Friday's 5-2 loss, while Gavin Holland scored twice, and Jarod Blackowiak, Fritz Belisle, and John O'Connor netted the other three in the nightcap. … With his two goals against Saint John's last Saturday, Holland pushed his team-leading goal total to nine, two in front of Grant Reichenbacher. … Austin Martinsen is the team-leader in both assists (9) and points (15). … Martinsen is one of five Auggies with 10 or more points this season — being joined by Gunnar Goodmanson (13), Holland (12), Reichenbacher (10), and Charlie Parker (10). … the Auggies have scored 10 power-play goals — led by Goodmanson and Holland with two each — while Goodmanson also leads the team with a pair of shorthanded tallies. … Martinsen, Holland, Reichenbacher, Blackowiak, and Michael Redmon all lead the team with two game-winning goals, with Parker and Matt Nehls netting the other two. … Danill Gerasimov has started 13 of the team's 18 games in goal, compiling a 1.24 goals-against-average and .955 save percentage. … Gerasimov stopped all 28 Saint John's shots last Saturday en route to his fourth shutout of the season. … Jack Robbel (1.38 GAA, .924 save %) has made four starts between the pipes, while Jon Albers (1.37 GAA, .949 save %) has made three appearances, including one start. … Augsburg has scored five or more goals in a game six times this season — including a season-high six goals in a 6-0 win over Bethel on Jan. 17. … Augsburg has outscored its opponents in every periods — 15-9 in the first, 21-10 in the second, and 17-7 in the third. … The Auggies have scored first in 12 of their 18 games, going 9-2-1. Augsburg is 3-3-0 when its opponent scores first. … Augsburg is unbeaten (10-0-0) when leading after two periods, but has yet to win a game when trailing entering the third (0-4-1). … Seven of the Auggies' 12 wins have been by three goals or more. On the flip side, Augsburg has been held to two goals or less in all five of its losses this season. …