By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team returns to conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals head to TRIA Rink for a 7 p.m. matchup against Hamline
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-5-0 MIAC, 7-9-1 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (2-7-3 MIAC, 4-13-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — January 31-1, 2020 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena/Ed Saugestad Rink * Winona/Minneapolis, Minn.: The Cardinals split their conference series against No. 10 Augsburg last weekend — with both teams winning at home. Saint Mary's picked up a convincing 7-1 victory in the opener, with the Auggies earning the split with a 5-2 win the following day | Augsburg Recap 1 * Augsburg Recap 2
• Hamline — January 31-1, 2020 * Don Roberts Ice Arena/TRIA Rink * St. Peter/St. Paul, Minn.: The Pipers collected a split in their conference series against Gustavus last weekend — with both teams winning on their home ice. GAC recorded a 7-1 win the opening game of the series, with HU bouncing back with a 2-1 win the following evening | GAC Recap 1 * GAC Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline — A Year Ago:
• February 8, 2019 * Saint Mary's Ice Arena * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals made it three straight wins in their last three Friday night contests, as Saint Mary's scored twice in the second period and once more in the third in dealing Hamline the same fate as Gustavus and Bethel the previous two weeks — an MIAC loss — this time a 3-1 decision | Recap
• February 9, 2019 * TRIA Rink * St. Paul, Minn.: Hamline raced out to a 3-0 first-period lead, Saint Mary's rallied to pull even with three unanswered goals, but the Pipers outscored the Cardinals 3-1 over the final period and a half in dealing SMU a 7-4 conference setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• The Cardinals and Pipers return to action on Saturday night, heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for the second game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. 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 against Hamline is the second straight road game for the Cardinals, who are 5-5-0 on the road, while going 3-5-1 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … The Cardinals' seven goals in Friday's 7-1 win over No. 10 Augsburg were a season high — and marked the second straight year in which Saint Mary's has recorded a seven-goal game. … Five of Saint Mary's seven goals against Augsburg last Friday came on special teams — the Cardinals scored three power-play goals and added a pair of shorthanded tallies. … The Cardinals' nine goals against Augsburg last weekend came from eight different players. Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) scored two goals in last Friday's 7-1 win over Augsburg, while Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.), Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.), Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill) and Robert Roslund (Vanersborg, Sweden) accounted for Saint Mary's other seven goals. … With his goal against Augsburg last Friday, Stoynich has now recorded at least one point in nine of the Cardinals' last 11 games. … Tommy Stang's two-goal and four-point game against Augsburg last Friday were both collegiate firsts, while Liverance equaled his career-high with three points (1 goal, 2 assists) against the Auggies. … 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 Augsburg on Friday — his second goal in as many games — Meeh pushed his team goal-scoring lead to a single-game career-high 10. … Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), who recorded his first collegiate three-assist game against Augsburg last Friday — marking the sixth time this season the senior has recorded two or more assists in a game — leads the team in both assists (18) and points (21). … Tommy Stang (19), Meeh (16), Stoynich (15), Wilhelm (10), and Liverance (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.), Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.), Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia), and Sam Schultz (Lakeland, Minn.). … The Cardinals have had a multiple-goal scorer five times this season — Tommy Stang vs. Augsburg last Friday; 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. … Four of Meeh's 10 goals have come on the power-play — a team high — while Tommy Stang has scored three of Saint Mary's four shorthanded goals. … Tommy Stang's two shorthanded goals against Augsburg last Friday 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's MIAC series against Augsburg boasting a 3.00 goals-against-average and an .897 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. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 20-19 in the second, but have been outscored 16-15 in the first period and 27-19 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. … With their 4-3 overtime loss to Bethel on Jan. 24, 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 10 of its 18 games, going 5-5-0. The Cardinals are 3-5-1 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's is 6-1-1 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 Hamline:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Friday's game against Saint Mary's is the second straight home game for the Pipers, who are 1-7-2 on their home ice, while going 3-6-2 away from TRIA Rink. … Hamline's 2-1 win over Gustavus last Saturday snapped the Pipers' three-game losing streak and five-game winless streak (0-4-1). … Jackson Bond enters this weekend's games against Saint Mary's as the Pipers' offensive leader, owning team-highs in all three offensive categories — goals (11), assists (11), and points (22). … Welland Parrish is second to Bond in goals (6), assists (8), and points (14), while Brandon Bissett has also netted six goals this season. … Hamline has netted 12 power-play goals this season, led by Bond and Bailey Martin with two each. … Kyle Wendorf has scored two of the Pipers' four game-winning goals, with Parrish and Jerson Hirschfeld netting the other two. … Hamline has used three different goalies this season, led by Sam Nelson, who has compiled a 3.14 goals-against-average and .908 save percentage in 13 starts. Evan Robert (7 GP, 4.49 GAA, .893 save %) and Kevin Lake (4 GP, 2.08 GAA, .929 save %) have also seen time between the pipes for Hamline. … Hamline has scored three or more goals eight times this season — going 3-3-2. … Four of Hamline's five overtime games this season have ended in ties — including two 3-3 stalemates and a pair of 1-1 deadlocks. HU's other OT game was a 3-2 loss to St. Olaf. … The Pipers have scored a season-high four games three times — beating Trine (4-3), St. Olaf (4-1), and UW-Stout (4-2). … Hamline has scored first in eight of its 21 games this season, going 2-5-1. The Pipers are 2-8-3 when their opponent scores first. … Hamline owns a 3-1-0 record when leading after two periods, but is just 1-9-2 when trailing heading into the third frame. …