By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey hits the road for the final two games of the regular season, beginning Friday night with a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup against Saint Benedict at the Dave Torrey Arena.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-9-2 MIAC, 8-12-3 Overall) at Saint Benedict Bennies (5-11-0 MIAC, 10-11-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 14-15, 2020 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena/St. Olaf Ice Arena * Winona, Minn./Northfield, Minn.: The Cardinals collected their first MIAC sweep of the season, holding St. Olaf to just one goal in each game en route to wins of 8-1 and 3-1 | STO Recap 1 * STO Recap 2
• Saint Benedict — February 14-15, 2020 * Dave Torrey Arena/Don Roberts Ice Arena * St. Cloud, Minn./St. Peter, Minn.: The Bennie dropped both of their conference games to league-leading Gustavus last weekend, falling to the Gusties 4-1 in the opener, before dropping a 5-2 decision in the rematch | GAC Recap 1 * GAC Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Saint Benedict — A Year Ago:
• November 30, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's put an end to its five-game losing streak — and picked up its first conference win of the season in the process — as the Cardinals cruised to a 3-0 win over the Bennies | Recap
• December 1, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: Saint Benedict scored the game's first four goals — including those three in the first period — as the Bennies handed the Cardinals a 5-1 conference setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Bennies are right back in action at the Dave Torrey Arena in St. Cloud, Minn., on Saturday for the second game of their two-game MIAC series. Opening face-off is set for 2 p.m.
 
MIAC Tournament Outlook:
• With last weekend's sweep of St. Olaf, the Cardinals vaulted themselves right back into the post-season picture. Saint Mary's is currently sitting in sixth place, two points back of Bethel and two in front of Saint Benedict with a possible four points available. A sweep of Saint Benedict and two Bethel losses to league-leading Gustavus, and the Cardinals are guaranteed an MIAC Tournament invitation. Gustavus (28 points), Hamline (27), Augsburg (26), and St. Thomas (23) have already locked up the top four spots in the five-team field.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• With last Friday's 8-1 win over St. Olaf, the Cardinals have now recorded six of their eight wins — and two of their three ties — at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Saint Mary's 3-1 win over St. Olaf last Saturday was just the Cardinals' second road win of the season. … Last weekend's 8-1, 3-1 wins over St. Olaf gave the Cardinals their first conference sweep of the season — and second sweep overall. Saint Mary's took both games against St. Norbert in their nonconference series on Jan. 10-11. … The Cardinals' eight goals against St. Olaf Friday were the most since Saint Mary's netted eight in blanking Hamline 8-0 on Feb. 25, 2004. … The Cardinals' eight goals against St. Olaf Friday came from seven different players — including collegiate firsts from Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.) and Jordan Modjeski (South Lyon, Mich.). … Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) — who recorded her first collegiate two-goal game last Friday against St. Olaf — also scored one of Saint Mary's three goals in the rematch against the Oles, with Carolyn Chrastka (Franklin Park, Ill.) and Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) accounting for the other two. … Along with her first collegiate goal against St. Olaf last Friday, Modjeski also added a career-best three assists to her first collegiate goal for her first-ever four-point game. … Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.), Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.), Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.), and Green all had a goal and an assist against the Oles Friday. … With Moser's effort on Friday, Saint Mary's has had a player score two goals in a game four times this season, being joined by Hafiz against St. Thomas on Jan. 17, Delaney Calabrese (West Dundee, Ill.) v. St. Norbert on Jan. 10, and Zebro v. Concordia on Nov. 15. … Hafiz has posted a multiple-goal game four times in her collegiate career, while Zebro's two-goal game against Concordia on Nov. 15 was her third. … Saint Mary's has now had seven players score their first collegiate goals this season — Modjeski, Green, Avrey Simonson's (Waupaca, Wis.), Calabrese, Kaley Manglitz's (Onalaska, Wis.), Sam Carlson (St. Paul, Minn.), and Amber Miller (Kasson, Minn.). … Hafiz enters this weekend's conference series against Saint Benedict leading the team in goals with a single-season career-high 12, while also leading the team in points with 18. … Moser leads the team in assists with 10, and is second to Hafiz in both goals (7) and points (17). … Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) recorded a career-high 54 saves in the Cardinals' 3-3 tie with No. 5 Hamline on Feb. 8. The 54 saves were 10 more than her previous career best — and the most by a Cardinal goalie since Ashley Corcoran stopped 56 Gustavus shots on Feb. 3, 2017. … Ziakas — who had to make just 10 saves against St. Olaf last Friday — enters Saturday's this weekend's games against Saint Benedict boasting a 2.82 goals-against-average and a .909 save percentage in 12 appearances. … Ziakas has made 30 or more saves seven times in her collegiate career. …  Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.), who stopped 41 Augsburg shots on Jan. 31 — two saves shy of her career-high 43-save showing against Adrian on Nov. 3, stopped 28 St. Olaf shots in last Saturday's rematch. … Keeley, who has made 30 or more saves in a game six times in her first two years as a Cardinal, boasts a 2.30 goals-against-average and a .930 save percentage in 12 appearances. … Saint Mary's finished with a season-high 53 shots on goal in its 4-2 win over Marian on Jan. 5. It was the most shots on goal since putting 53 on net against Hamline on Feb. 25, 2004. … With their 3-3 tie against Hamline on Feb. 8, the Cardinals have now played five overtime games this season — going 1-1-3. Along with their tie against Hamline, Saint Mary's dropped a 3-2 decision to Bethel, beat St. Norbert, tying both UW-Stevens Point and Gustavus — with both games ending 2-2. … Last weekend's games against No. 5 Hamline marked the sixth and seventh time this season the Cardinals have faced a team ranked in the USCHO.com Poll. Along with last weekend's 6-1 loss and 3-3 tie against Hamline, Saint Mary's dropped 3-2 and 4-2 games to No. 3 Adrian on Nov. 2-3, while falling to No. 5 UW-River Falls 4-1 on Nov. 9, and tying (2-2) and losing (5-1) to No. 4 Gustavus on Dec. 6-7 … The Cardinals' 2-2 tie against fourth-ranked Gustavus on Dec. 6 marked the third straight year in which Saint Mary's and GAC played to an overtime draw — the Cardinals and Gusties tied 1-1 in each of the last two seasons. …  Five of the Cardinals' last eight games have been decided by one goal or less — while 16 of their 23 games this season have been decided by two goals or less. Saint Mary's is 7-6-3 in those 15 contests. … The Cardinals' 5-2 loss to St. Thomas on Jan. 17 snapped their three-game winning streak and four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1). … The Cardinals' three-game winning streak was their longest since the 2015-16 season, while their four-game unbeaten run was the longest since going 3-0-1 during the 2014-15 campaign. … Saint Mary's has scored first in 13 of its 23 games, going 4-6-3. The Cardinals are 4-6-0 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 5-1-2 when leading after two periods, while going 1-8-1 when trailing after two. … The Cardinals' 4-3 win over Concordia on Nov. 15 was the first collegiate coaching win for Cardinal HC Sarah Murray. … Saint Mary's 3-2 loss to Adrian on Nov. 2 snapped its four-year, season-opening winning streak. … The Cardinals, who made their first MIAC Tournament appearance since the 2015-16 season a year ago — and their 11th in program history — were picked to finish sixth in the MIAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
Scouting The Saint Benedict Bennies:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• The Bennies head into their final weekend of the season on the heels of back-to-back losses to league-leading Gustavus. CSB is 3-3-0 in its last six contests — having swept St. Olaf (5-1 and 4-0) and split with St. Thomas (L, 2-1; W, 3-2) prior to last weekend's losses to the Gusties. … Saint Benedict has collected seven of its 10 wins this season at home. The Bennies a 7-4-0 on their home ice, while going 3-7-1 away from Dave Torrey Arena. … Riley Schneider accounted for two of the Bennies' three goals against Gustavus last weekend — scoring CSB's lone goal in last Friday's 4-1 loss, while joining Julia Pias as goal-scorers in their 5-2 setback the following afternoon. … Mollie Wise heads into this weekend's two-game series against Saint Mary's leading the team with 13 goals, with Annika Brodt and Rylan Bistodeau second with eight each. … Along with her eight goals, Brodt also owns the team lead in both assists (12) and points (20). … Brodt is one of four Bennies with 10 or more points this season, being joined by Wise (16), Pias (13), and Bistodeau (12). … Saint Benedict has scored nine power-play goals this season — led by Wise and Bistodeau with three each. …Wise and Bistodeau also lead the Bennies in game-winning goals with three apiece. … Saint Benedict has used three different goalies this season, led by Alley Frantzick, who has compiled a 2.63 goals-against-average and .920 save percentage in a team-high 11 starts. … Maggie Gilchrist (2.68 GAA, .918 save %) has started six games and Kailee Medved (1.60 GAA. .926 save %) has made five starts. … Saint Benedict is unbeaten (9-0-1) when scoring the game's first goal, while going just 1-11-0 when its opponent scores first. … CSB has played nine games decided by two goals or less — including seven one-goal games and one that ended in a tie. On the flip side, the Bennies have played 13 games decided by three or more goals — going 6-7 in those 13 contests. … Saint Benedict has scored three or more goals in a game nine times this season — including a season-high six-goal effort in beating Finlandia 6-0 on Jan. 10. … CSB has posted three shutouts this season  — blanking St. Catherine (3-0) and Finlandia twice (6-0, 5-0). The Bennies have also been shut out three times — falling to Bethel (3-0) and Augsburg twice (5-0, 4-0).