By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team closes out its two-game conference series against St. Olaf on Saturday, as the Cardinals host the Oles in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-6-1 MIAC, 9-11-2 Overall) vs. St. Olaf Oles (1-9-3 MIAC, 3-16-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Night:
• February 14, 2020 * St. Olaf Ice Arena * Northfield, Minn.: Ian Currie (Franklin, Tenn.) scored with less than five minutes to go in regulation, only to have St. Olaf net the equalizer three minutes later, as the two teams skated to a 1-1 conference tie. Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) scored in the 3-on-3 overtime to earn the Cardinals the extra conference point | Recap
 
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:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the regular season with a pair of home games next weekend against Saint John's. Saint Mary's and SJU will square off at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday, with Saturday's second game set for 2 p.m.
• St. Olaf: The Oles' final two games of the season will take place at the St. Olaf Ice Arena, in Northfield, Minn., as St. Olaf entertains Concordia in a pair of MIAC contests. Game 1 is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, with the rematch taking place at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Saturday's game against St. Olaf is the first of three straight home games to close out the regular season for the Cardinals. … With their two points against St. Olaf Friday, the Cardinals are currently sitting tied with Bethel for sixth place, two points back of both Gustavus and St. Thomas in the chase for one of the five MIAC Tournament berths with three games remaining. … With Friday's 1-1 tie against St. Olaf — the Cardinals' first conference tie of the season — With Saint Mary's now played 19 games decided by one goal or less — including 11 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. … 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. … 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, leads the team in assists (21) and shares the team lead in points (24) with his brother, Tommy. … Stang recorded two or more assists in a game seven times this season. … Along with the Stang brothers, Meeh (18), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta / 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, Currie, 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. … Al Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) — who recorded his first collegiate shutout, a 30-save showing against No. 10 Oswego on Jan. 3 — heads into Saturday's rematch against St. Olaf boasting a 2.69 goals-against-average and an .903 save percentage. … Rogers — who made a season-high 38 saves against St. Olaf Friday — has posted 30 or more saves four times this season and nine times in his collegiate career. … 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. … 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 29-21 in the third. … The Cardinals' 1-1 tie against St. Olaf Friday was their fifth overtime game of the season. Saint Mary's owns OT wins over Concordia (3-2) and Gustavus (5-4), while falling to Bethel (4-3), and tying St. Olaf (1-1) and Lake Forest (3-3). … 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 13 of its 22 games, going 6-6-1. 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
• Friday's 1-1 deadlock against Saint Mary's was St. Olaf's second straight tie — the Oles skated to a 2-2 tie against Bethel last Saturday. … St. Olaf is winless in its last five games (0-3-2). … 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, Paul Stehr, and Kyle Rimbach share the team lead with four goals each, one more than Josh Radtke, Will Dittrich, and Jared 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 started 11 and 10 games, respectively. Parker has compiled a 3.00 goals-against-average and a .921 save percentage, with Lukenda adding a 3.91 GAA and .882 save %. … St. Olaf has been outscored 85-33 — 22-10 in the first period, 30-11 in the second, and 33-11 in the third. … The Oles have scored first five times this season, going 1-2-2. St. Olaf is 2-14-1 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.