By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team kicks off its two-game MIAC series on the road on Friday, as the Cardinals head to the St. Olaf Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Oles.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-6-0 MIAC, 9-11-1 Overall) at St. Olaf Oles (1-9-2 MIAC, 3-16-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: February 7-8, 2020 * TRIA Rink/Saint Mary's Ice Arena * St. Paul, Minn./Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals earned a conference split in their two-game series against Hamline, bouncing back from a 2-1 loss in the opener by scoring a season-high seven goals in beating the Pipers 7-2 in the rematch | HU Recap 1 * HU Recap 2
• St. Olaf: February 7-8, 2020 * Schwan's Super Rink/St. Olaf Ice Arena * Blaine, Minn./Northfield, Minn.: The Oles picked up two conference points in its MIAC series against Bethel last weekend, falling to the Royals 5-1 in the opener, before earning a 2-2 tie — and the extra point by winning the shootout — in the rematch | BU Recap 1 * BU Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf — A Year Ago:
• February 15, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Not only did Saint Mary's come up with a convincing 5-2 conference win over St. Olaf in the final home game of the season — but the Cardinals also locked up the fifth and final spot in next week's MIAC Tournament in the process | Recap
• February 16, 2019 * St. Olaf Ice Arena * Northfield, Minn.: Carter Dahl his second goal in as many nights midway through the third period, carrying the Cardinals to their second straight win over the Oles, this time a 2-1 decision. With the win, the Cardinals head into MIAC post-season play having won two straight and three of their last four. Saint Mary's will open MIAC Playoff action on Thursday, traveling to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn.,  for a 7 p.m. opening-round showdown against Concordia | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and St. Olaf resume their MIAC series on Saturday, as the two teams head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday. Opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Friday's game at St. Olaf is the third road game in the last five contests for the Cardinals, who are 5-6-0 on the road, while going 3-5-1 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … With their 2-1 loss to Hamline last Friday, the Cardinals have now played 18 games decided by one goal or less — including 10 that have gone into overtime — over the past two seasons. … The Cardinals equaled their single-game season-high with seven goals in last Saturday's 7-2 win over Hamline. Saint Mary's has now scored seven goals in each of its last two wins — having beaten No. 10 Augsburg 7-1 on Jan. 31. … Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) scored a goal in both games against Hamline last weekend. … Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.) each put together four-point games against the Pipers last Saturday — Stang had two goals and two assists, while Wilhelm recorded one goal and three assists. … Stang's four-point game was the second of his career — having also scored two goals and added two helpers against Augsburg on Jan. 31-1 — while Wilhelm's was his first. … Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.), and Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska) netted Saint Mary's other three goals against Hamline last Saturday. … With his goals against the Pipers, Stoynich has now recorded at least one point in 11 of the Cardinals' last 13 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 — both single-game career highs. … Meeh enters this weekend's games against St. Olaf as the team-leader in goals with 11 — a single-season career-high. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), who recorded his first collegiate four-assist game against Augsburg on Jan. 31 and picked up a pair of helpers against Hamline last Saturday — marking the sixth and seventh times this season the senior has recorded two or more assists in a game — leads the team in assists (21) and shares the team lead in points (24) with his brother, Tommy. …  Meeh (18), Stoynich (18), Wilhelm (15), and Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario / 10) have all cracked the 10-point barrier this season. … With his goal against UW-Stout on Jan. 17, Alex Rickoff (Winona, Minn.) became the ninth Cardinal to net his first collegiate goal this season — joining Lindauer, Ian Currie (Franklin, Tenn.), Roslund, Sam Hanson (Eau Claire, Wis.), Thomas Magnavite (Chicago, Ill.), Wilhelm, Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia), and Sam Schultz (Lakeland, Minn.). … The Cardinals have had a multiple-goal scorer six times this season — Tommy Stang vs. Hamline last Saturday and Augsburg on Jan. 31; Meeh vs. Concordia on Nov. 23 and vs. St. Thomas on Jan. 17; Jack Stang against Williams on Jan. 3; and Magnavite against Lake Forest on Nov. 1. … Six of Stoynich's nine goals this season have come on the power play, while Meeh is close behind, netting five power-play goals. … Tommy Stang has scored three of Saint Mary's four shorthanded goals. … Tommy Stang's two shorthanded goals against Augsburg on Jan. 31 marked the first time Saint Mary's has had a player score two shorthanded goals in a game since Martin Gruse netted two on Dec. 6, 2014. … Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.), who has compiled a 3.43 goals-against-average and an .887 save percentage in nine starts, has stopped 30 or more shots nine times in the last two seasons. … Al Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) — who recorded his first collegiate shutout, a 30-save showing against No. 10 Oswego on Jan. 3 — heads into this weekend against St. Olaf boasting a 2.84 goals-against-average and an .895 save percentage. … 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. … 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. … Five of Saint Mary's seven goals against Augsburg on Jan. 31 came on special teams — the Cardinals scored three power-play goals and added a pair of shorthanded tallies. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 17-16 in the first period and 25-22 in the second, but have been outscored 28-20 in the third. … The Cardinals' 4-3 loss to Bethel on Jan. 24 was their 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. … 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 has scored first in 12 of its 21 games, going 6-6-0. The Cardinals are 3-5-1 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 7-1-1 when leading after two periods, while going 0-5-0 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 St. Olaf Oles:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• St. Olaf's 2-2 tie against Bethel last Saturday snapped the Oles' three-game losing streak, but left St. Olaf winless in its last four games. … With last Friday's 5-1 loss to Bethel, the Oles have been held to one goal or less in each of their last 10 losses. … Roshen Jaswal netted St. Olaf's lone goal in its 5-1 loss to Bethel last Friday, while Jared Pedersen and Luke Ranallo netted St. Olaf's two goals in the rematch. … Jaswal, Paul Stehr, and Kyle Rimbach share the team lead with four goals each, one more than Josh Radtke, Will Dittrich, and Pedersen. … Jaswal also shares the team-lead in assists (5) with Tyler Bump and Andrew Willner, and leads the Oles with nine points. … Radtke, Rimbach, and Ashton Altmann have netted St. Olaf's three game-winning goals this season. … St. Olaf has scored 13 power-play goals, led by Jaswal and Stehr with three each. … Dittrich has accounted for two of St. Olaf's three shorthanded goals, with Radtke netting the other. … St. Olaf has used three different goalies this year, led by Noah Parker and Cooper Lukenda, who have each started 10 games. Parker has compiled a 3.25 goals-against-average and a .917 save percentage, with Lukenda adding a 3.91 GAA and .882 save %. … St. Olaf has been outscored 84-32 — 22-10 in the first period, 30-11 in the second, and 32-10 in the third. … The Oles have scored first five times this season, going 1-2-2. St. Olaf is 2-14-0 when its opponent scores first. … St. Olaf is unbeaten (2-0-1) when leading after two periods, while going 0-15-0 when trailing heading into the game's final 20 minutes. … St. Olaf is 2-2 in one-goal games and 1-4 in its five two-goal contests. The Oles have allowed three or more goals 10 times — all losses.