• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals enter post-season play with a 13-4-1 overall record, a mark that included a 7-3-1 showing in conference play.
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Cardinals dropped their regular-season finale against St. Scholastica last Friday, ending any hopes SMU had of claiming at least a share of the MIAC crown. At 7-3-1, Saint Mary's ended the year third in the conference standings en route to its No. 3 seed.
• POST-SEASON HISTORY: The Cardinals are making their first-ever MIAC Tournament appearance since the league added the six-team tourney in 2003. Saint Mary's has not competed in post-season play since 1994, when the Cardinals beat Gustavus (4-1) and lost to UC-San Diego (1-0) in the NCAA Tournament. SMU is 2-6-0 in post-season play all-time.
• RARE AIR: The Cardinals' seven conference wins are the most since 1995, when the Cardinals went 7-2-1, while SMU's 13 overall victories are the most since the 2005 team finished 13-5-0. … Saint Mary's 10-1-1 start to the season was its best start since opening the 1991 season 11-1-0. That 1991 team went on to finish 14-4-0 and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament, falling to UC-San Diego in the opening round. … The Cardinals also opened the 1988 season 11-1-0 — it's the best 12-game start in program history.
• CLOSE CALLS: Saint Mary's 2-1 loss to St. Scholastica in their regular-season finale marked the 11th time in the last 12 outings that the game has been decided by one goal or less — the lone exception, SMU's 3-1 win over St. Olaf on Oct. 12.
• HOME SWEET HOME: The Cardinals head into their post-season opener boasting a near-perfect 5-1-1 record on their home turf. SMU closed out the regular season 8-3-0 away from Ochrymowycz Field.
• NONE BETTER: As a team, the Cardinals led all MIAC teams in goals (38), assists (30), points (106), and goals-against-average (0.47).Â
• LEADER OF THE PACK: Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) enters Monday's conference tournament opener leading the team in goals with 10— including scoring both of SMU's goals last week in a 1-0 win over Macalester and 2-1 loss to St. Scholastica. … Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) is second to Falkman with eight goals, followed by Brooklyn McKinney (Thornton, Colo.) with five. … Matthews owns a team-best six assists, one more than Genesis Capacio (Las Vegas, Nev.) and two in front of Falkman. … Falkman owns a team-high 24 points, two more than Matthews.
• DOUBLING UP: Saint Mary's has had six players score two goals in a game this season — a feat Matthews has achieved twice. Falkman and Elisia Jensen (Gig Harbor, Wash.) achieved the feat against Ripon on Sept. 12, while Matthews, Arriaga, Brooklyn McKinney (Thornton, Colo.), and Megan Trindle (Castle Rock, Colo.) all posted two-goal games against Martin Luther on Sept. 6. It was the first career two-goal game for Arriaga, McKinney, Trindle, Falkman, and Jensen.
• FIRST GOALS: The Cardinals have had six players score their first collegiate goals this season. Wachter netted the 2 OT game-winner against UW-River Falls last Wednesday; Falkman and McKinney scored the Cardinals' two goals in their season-opening win over UW-Superior; Mikayla McCart (Council Bluffs, Iowa) tallied the game's only goal in SMU's win over Coe; and Trindle and Jenna Zimmer (Calgary, Alberta) tallied their first career goals in SMU's 11-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 6.
• A PK RARITY: Falkman's goal in the 14th minute against St. Olaf on Oct. 12 was the Cardinals' first penalty kick attempt of the season — and their first since Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.) scored on a PK against Coe on Sept. 9, 2018, a span of 36 games without a penalty kick attempt.
• THE BRICK WALL: Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) — who stopped a career-high 10 shots in SMU's 2-1 win over St. Catherine on Sept.26 — posted her seventh shutout of the season against Macalester last Wednesday, stopping all three Scot shots. … Nguyen has now stopped 44 of the 47 shots she's faced for a 0.27 goals-against-average and .936 save percentage.
• THE BRICK WALL II: Madison Mora (Honolulu, Hawaii), who started three of the team's last five games in goal, owns a 0.68 goals-against-average and an .868 save percentage.
• IN GOAL FIRSTS: Mora stopped all five UW-River Falls shots on Oct. 6 en route to her first collegiate shutout — and her first win as a Cardinal. … Mora recorded a career-high in saves against St. Olaf on Oct. 12, stopping eight Ole shots.
• WORKING OVERTIME: The Cardinals have played three overtime games this season, going 2-0-1. Saint Mary's played four overtime games in 2019 — with all four going into a second OT.
• STRIKING FAST: Saint Mary's has scored at least one goal in the first half in 10 of its 18 games this season. SMU has outscored its opponents 21-5 in the first half and 17-4 in the second.
• FEW HAVE GOTTEN PAST: St. Catherine's goal in the game's 72nd minute on Sept. 26 was the first allowed by the Cardinals this season — ending a span of 722:13 scoreless minutes. … UW-Stout's goal in the fourth minute the following day, meanwhile, marked the first time all season the Cardinals have not scored first. … The Cardinals allowed just seven goals in 11 conference games.
• BACK-TO-BACK: With their 1-0 overtime win over Gustavus on Sept. 29, the Cardinals have now shut out Gustavus in each of the teams' last two meetings, having beaten GAC 3-0 on May 2, 2021.
• FIT TO BE TIED: With their 0-0, double-overtime tie against Saint Benedict on Sept. 18, the Cardinals and Bennies have now played to a draw in each of their last two meetings, having battled to a 1-1 deadlock a year ago.
• SNAPPED: The Cardinals' 2-1 win over St. Catherine on Sept. 26 put an end to a nine-game losing streak against the Wildcats, dating back to a 3-1 win on Oct. 15, 2011.
• NAILBITERS: With their 1-0 win over Carleton on Sept. 14, the Cardinals are now 2-0-1 in their last three meetings with the Knights — with all three games being decided by one goal or less. Along with their 1-0 win, SMU beat Carleton 3-2 in 2 overtimes in 2018, and battled to a 1-1, double-overtime draw in 2019.
• DOUBLE DIGITS: Saint Mary's 11-goal outburst in its 11-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 6 marked the first time since beating Northland 10-0 on Sept. 9, 2017 that the Cardinals scored 10 or more goals in a game. … SMU's 11 goals were the most since beating UW-Platteville 11-0 on Sept. 7, 1996 and just three goals shy of the school record, set in a 14-0 win over Saint Benedict on Oct. 22, 1986. … Saint Mary's has scored 10 or more goals in a game seven times in program history.
• PERFECTION: With their 11-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 6, the Cardinals improved to 7-0-0 all-time against MLC and have outscored the Knights by a combined 45-5. |
• FOR THE RECORD: The Saints enter post-season play having finished the regular-season with a 4-10-4 overall record, including a 4-5-3 showing in the 12-game conference slate.
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Saints entered the final slate of MIAC games needing to beat Saint Mary's and then get losses by Carleton, St. Olaf and Macalester. The Saints did what they needed to do with a 2-1 victory over SMU Friday night and then had to scoreboard watch on Saturday. St. Catherine defeated St. Olaf 3-0 and then Gustavus beat Macalester 1-0. So, it came down to the Saint Benedict-Carleton matchup. The contest proceeded to go to double overtime and a tie would eliminate the Saints. However, with 2:46 remaining in the second OT, St. Ben's broke through with a goal and thus gave the Saints the No. 6 seed in the MIAC Tournament, becoming the first CSS team to make the MIAC postseason.
• POST-SEASON HISTORY: This is St. Scholastica's first MIAC Tournament appearance in their first season in the league. In their former conference, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), the Saints won 15 UMAC Tournament titles, including eight since 2011. CSS even won this past spring's conference tournament championship in the COVID-shortened season. The Saints have advanced to 10 NCAA Division III Tournaments.
• STREAK SNAPPER: The Saints' 2-1 win over Saint Mary's in their regular-season finale on Oct. 29 snapped CSS's seven-game winless streak (0-5-2). St. Scholastica had not won since beating Bethel 1-1 on Oct. 1.
• SUCCESS ON THE ROAD: Three of St. Scholastica's four wins this season have come on the road. CSS finished the year 1-4-3 at home, while going 3-6-1 on the road.
• CLOSE CALLS: Twelve of St. Scholastica's last 13 games have been decided by one goal or less — the lone exception a 3-0 loss to regular-season champion St. Catherine on Oct. 16. All four of CSS's wins this season have been decided by one goal. The Saints beat Concordia 2-1 on Sept. 18, added back-to-back 1-0 victories over St. Olaf and Bethel on Sept. 29 and Oct. 2, and beat Saint Mary's in their latest contest, 2-1, on Oct. 29.
• OFFENSIVE SPARKPLUG: Morgan Friday has netted eight of the team's 18 goals this season, while also leading the team in points (19) and sharing the team lead in assists (3). Friday has attempted a team-high 69 shots and leads the Saints with 36 shots on goal.
• OTHER LEADERS: McKenna Nelson and Abigail Shrode are both second to Friday with two goals each, while Kalya Quam, Payton Kolles, Brea Archer, Hunter Zamzow, Grace Beck, and Ella Stritesky have all scored once. … Nelson and Quam join Friday with three assists apiece. The trio are the only Saints with more than one helper this season.
• GAME-WINNERS: St. Scholastica's three game-winning goals have come from three different players — Friday, Nelson, Shrode, and Quam.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Brianna Jorgenson and Taelynn Gittins have shared the goalkeeping duties for the Saints. Jorgenson has compiled a 1.51 goals-against-average and .833 save percentage in 1012:51 minutes, while Gittins boasts a 2.10 GAA and .746 save percentage in 687:09 minutes. … Gittins made eight saves in CSS's 2-1 win over Saint Mary's in the teams' first meeting on Oct. 29. … Jorgenson has posted all three of Saints' shutouts and has stopped a team-high 85 shots.
• WORKING OVERTIME: The Saints have played four overtime games this season — with all four ending in ties. CSS has played to a draw against UW-Eau Claire (2-2), UW-River Falls (1-1), Hamline (0-0), and Carleton (1-1).
• SLOW STARTERS: St. Scholastica has scored 10 of its 18 goals in the second half. CSS has been outscored 12-8 in the game's opening 45 minutes and 21-10 after halftime.
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