By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicks off post-season play on the road on Thursday, as the Cardinals head to the St. Thomas Ice Arena for a 3:30 p.m. showdown against the Tommies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-10-2 MIAC, 9-13-3 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (11-6-1 MIAC, 12-9-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | MIAC Tournament Homepage
 
The MIAC Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals | Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 * 3:30 p.m.
No. 5 Saint Mary's at No. 4 St. Thomas
Semifinals | Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 | 2:00 p.m.
No. 4/5 seed at No. 1 Gustavus
No. 3 Augsburg at No. 2 Hamline
Championship | Saturday, Mar. 7, 2020 | 7:00 p.m.
Highest remaining seed will host
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 21-22, 2020 * Dave Torrey Ice Arena * St. Cloud, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up s split in their regular-season finale against Saint Benedict, dropping the opener 1-0, before punching their MIAC Tournament ticket with a 4-1 win in the rematch | CSB Recap 1 * CSB Recap 2
• St. Thomas — February 21-22, 2020 * St. Thomas Ice Arena/Ed Saugestad Rink * Mendota Heights, Minn./Minneapolis, Minn.: The Tommies dropped both of their games in their final regular-season MIAC series. St. Thomas surrendered the game-winning goal with 22 seconds remaining in regulation in falling to the Auggies 3-2 on Friday, before Augsburg netted three unanswered goals in completing the sweep with a 3-1 victory the following afternoon | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
• January 17, 2020 * St. Thomas Ice Arena * Mendota Heights, Minn.: St. Thomas erupted for five unanswered goals, erasing an early 1-0 Saint Mary's lead and fueling the Tommies to a 5-2 conference win | Recap
• January 18, 2020 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals, who scored the first and last goals in Friday's 5-2 loss to the league-leading Tommies, came up empty in the teams' rematch, as St. Thomas held Saint Mary's to just 14 shots on goal — and no goals — in dealing SMU a 3-0 conference setback | Recap
 
How They Got Here:
• St. Thomas: The Royals closed out the conference season with an 11-6-1 record to earn the No. 4 seeded in the five-team tournament. St. Thomas is making its 19th appearance in the conference tournament. The defending playoff champs have celebrated an automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament five times in the last six seasons.
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals will be making their second straight MIAC Tournament appearance — and 13th overall —  after locking up the tournament's final spot with a 4-1 win over Saint Benedict last Saturday that left Saint Mary's 6-10-2 in MIAC play.
  
Up Next:
• The winner of the quarterfinal contest will matchup with top-seeded Gustavus on Saturday afternoon. The other semifinal matchup will feature Augsburg challenging Hamline at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, also on Saturday. Both semifinal games are set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two semifinal winners will square off the following Saturday, March 7, in the 2020 MIAC Women's Hockey Playoff Championship game, which will be played on the home ice of the highest remaining seed. The tournament champion will receive the postseason championship plaque and the Conference's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division III Women's Hockey Tournament.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• The Cardinals enter post-season play having won three of their last four, while going 3-1-1 in their last five. … The Cardinals closed out regular-season play collecting six of their nine wins — and two of their three ties — on their home ice. Saint Mary's finished 6-5-2 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, while going 3-8-0 on the road. …  Saint Mary's four goals in their tournament-clinching 4-1 win over Saint Benedict last Saturday came from four different players — Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.), Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.), Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), and Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.). … The Cardinals 8-1, 3-1 wins over St. Olaf on Feb. 14-15 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 on Feb. 14 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 on Feb. 14 came from seven different players — including collegiate firsts from Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.) and Jordan Modjeski (South Lyon, Mich.). … Moser — who recorded her first collegiate two-goal game against St. Olaf on Feb. 14 — has now scored in three of the Cardinals' last four games. … Modjeski added a career-best three assists to her first collegiate goal against St. Olaf on Feb. 14. … Saint Mary's has had a player score two goals in a game four times this season — Moser vs. St. Olaf on Feb. 14, Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) against St. Thomas on Jan. 17, Delaney Calabrese (West Dundee, Ill.) vs. 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 as a Cardinal. … Saint Mary's has 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.). … 
Moser enters tournament play as the Cardinals' lead in both assists (11) and points (19) — both career highs. … Hafiz has scored a team-leading and single-season career-high 12 goals, while sitting second to Moser in points with 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 made 38 saves against Saint Benedict last Friday — enters Thursday's MIAC Tournament game against St. Thomas boasting a 2.69 goals-against-average and a .915 save percentage in 13 appearances. … Ziakas has made 30 or more saves eight 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 — has compiled a 2.30 goals-against-average and .930 save percentage in 12 appearances. … Keeley has made 30 or more saves in a game six times in her first two years as a Cardinal. … 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. … Saint Mary's 1-0 loss to Saint Benedict last Friday marked just the second time this season the Cardinals have failed to score at least one goal. SMU also dropped a 3-0 decision to St. Thomas on Jan. 18. … Six of the Cardinals' last 10 games have been decided by one goal or less — while 17 of their 25 games this season have been decided by two goals or less. Saint Mary's is 7-7-3 in those 17 contests. … 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. … The Cardinals games against No. 5 Hamline on Feb. 7-8 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 and regular-season champion 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. … 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 14 of its 25 games, going 5-6-3. The Cardinals are 4-6-0 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 6-1-2 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.


Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• St. Thomas enters this season's conference tournament on the heels of reaching the NCAA Division III Frozen Four last March — compiling a school-record 25-win season and sweeping the MIAC regular-season and playoff titles. … St. Thomas has won 11 consecutive games in the MIAC Tournament since February 2014. with playoff titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017,  and 2019. … Since sweeping Saint Mary's on Jan. 17-18, the Tommies are just 3-7-1 overall — including 0-4-1 in their last five. That Tommies' recent slide includes four losses by one goal and a 3-1 loss to Augsburg that included an empty net goal. … St. Thomas' back-to-back losses to Augsburg to end the season last weekend marked the first time since the 1999-2000 season that the Auggies have swept the Tommies. … Maddy Fiedler enters post-season play owning a team-leading 11 goals, three more than Estee Frantz and four in front of Alyssa Wallace and Alli Monrean. … Fielder also leads UST with 11 assists — one in front of Wallace — and points with 22. … Fiedler is one of 10 Tommies with 10 or more points, being joined by Wallace (17), Monrean (12), Mikayla Kero (12), Allison Parnell (11), Frantz (10), Anna Solheim (10), Sarah Moy (10), Rachel Werdin (10), and Rachel Werdin (10). … Monrean has netted a team-best three power-play goals, while Moy owns the team lead in game-winning goals with three. … Eryn Cooley has appeared in 24 of the Tommies' 25 games between the pipes, compiling a 1.65 goals-against-average and .932 save percentage. … Kylie Watts (2 GP, 2.48 GAA, .880 save %) and Kalli Engen (3 GP, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 save %) have also seen brief time in goal for UST. … St. Thomas' 5-4 loss to Hamline on Feb. 15 — in which UST led 3-0 — marked the first time in 51 games that the Tommies lost when scoring three or more goals. … St. Thomas has scored 52 goals in its 12 wins this season, but have managed just 18 combined in its nine loss and four ties. … St. Thomas has scored first in 17 of its 25 games, going 11-4-2 in those 17 games. UST is 1-5-2 when its opponent nets the game's first goal. … The Tommies are 11-3-0 when leading after two periods, while still searching for their first win (0-5-2) when trailing heading into the final period. … St. Thomas has played 12 games decided by one goal or less, going 2-6-4. … St. Thomas scored a season-high eight goals in beating St. Olaf 8-1 on Nov. 15. It was the fifth time this season the Tommies had netted five or more goals in a game. … St. Thomas has played five overtime games, going 0-1-4 — UST dropped a 2-1 decision to Lake Forest, while tying UW-Stevens Point (2-2), UW-River Falls (2-2), UW-Eau Claire (1-1), and Hamline (1-1).