SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

(0-0-0 MIAC, 1-4-0 O'ALL)

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CONCORDIA COBBERS 

(0-0-0 MIAC, 1-2-1 O'ALL

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LAST MEETING: Feb. 6, 2021 * W, 3-1

HEAD-2-HEAD: Series History

SMU LAST ACTION:

Nov. 5, 2021 * Superior * W, 4-3

Nov. 6, 2021 * Eau Claire * L, 4-1

CC LAST ACTION: 

Nov. 5, 2021 * River Falls * T, 2-2

Nov. 6, 2021 * River Falls * L, 5-3

SMU UP NEXT:

Nov. 13, 2021 * at Concordia

CC UP NEXT: 

Nov. 13, 2021 * v. Saint Mary’s

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s enters Friday’s conference-opener against Concordia sporting a 1-4-0 overall record.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals are coming off a split of their nonconference games last weekend. Saint Mary’s got the game-winning goal from Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) at 13:29 of the third period in beating UW-Superior 4-3, before managing just one goal in falling to seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire 4-1 the following evening.

• WIN NO. 1: The Cardinals picked up their first win of the season last Friday, snapping a season-opening three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over UW-Superior.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Last Saturday’s game against UW-Eau Claire was the third straight home game for the Cardinals, who play their next three contests — two at Concordia and one at Saint John’s — on the road.

• FIRST AS A CARDINAL: Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) scored SMU’s lone goal in last Saturday’s 4-1 loss to seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire. He is the third player to net his first goal in a Cardinal uniform this season. Gabe Potyk (Lake Orion, Mich.) tallied his first collegiate goal against UW-Superior on Nov. 5 and Matt Hutton (Carmel, Ind.) netted his first goal in a Saint Mary’s jersey to account for Saint Mary’s lone goal in SMU’s 5-1 loss to Lawrence on Nov. 3.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: The Cardinals have had six different players score their last six goals. Hutton netted SMU’s lone goal against Lawrence on Nov. 3;  Potyk, Stoynich, Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.), and Trevor Schroder (Des Moines, Iowa) scored against UW-Superior on Nov. 5, and Poellinger scored vs. UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 6. Saint Mary’s nine goals this season have come from seven different players. 

• LENDING A HAND: Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) collected a pair of assists against UW-Superior on Nov. 5 and moved into a tie with Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.) for the team lead.  Hutton and Poellinger have each chipped in two helpers through four games. … Lindauer and Wilhelm have both recorded two-assist games this season.

• GOAL NO. 1: Tyson Liverance’s (Burford, Ontario) goal at 13:52 of the first period was the Cardinals’ first goal of the 2021-22 season.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Six players share the team lead in points with three each — Stoynich (2 G, 1 A), Winter (2 G, 1 A), Hutton (1 G, 2 A), Poellinger (1 G, 2 A), Lindauer (0 G, 3 A), and Wilhelm (0 G, 3 A)

• POWER SURGE: Five of the Cardinals’ nine goals this season have been scored on the power play. Saint Mary’s is 5-for-23 with the man advantage.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) picked up his first collegiate win on Nov. 5, equaling his then-career high with 28 saves in SMU’s 4-3 win over UW-Superior. Ruskowski followed up that effort by stopped a career-best 43 shots in the Cardinals’ 4-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire the following evening. … Ruskowski enters this weekend’s games against Concordia sporting a 3.19 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. … Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) has compiled a 3.96 GAA and .889 save percentage in two starts (75:47).

• FIRST CAREER STARTS: Ruskowski and Matt Sankner each made their first collegiate starts in goal for the Cardinals against Lake Forest on Oct. 29-30. Ruskowski finished with 28 saves in SMU’s 4-3 overtime loss on Oct. 29, while Sankner kicked out 33 of the 35 Forester shots he faced the following afternoon.

• CLOSE CALLS: Two of Saint Mary’s five games this season have been decided by one goal — with both ending in a 4-3 decision. Along with its 4-3 win over UW-Superior on Nov. 5, SMU fell to Lake Forest 4-3 in overtime on Oct. 29. … The Cardinals have now played 27 games decided by one goal or less — including 15 that have gone into overtime — over the last four seasons. 

• FIRST GOAL SUCCESS: In Saint Mary’s five games this season, the team that has scored first has gone on to win. Lake Forest (twice), Lawrence, and UW-Eau Claire scored first in SMU’s four losses, while the Cardinals netted the game’s opening goal in their 4-3 victory over UW-Superior on Nov. 5.

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cobbers head into their conference-opening series against Saint Mary’s sitting at 1-2-1 overall — their lone win a 4-1, season-opening victory over Marian on Oct. 29.

• LAST ACTION: The Cobbers went 0-1-1 in its nonconference series against UW-River Falls last weekend, battling the Falcons to a 2-2 draw last Friday, before falling 5-3 in the nightcap the following afternoon.

• IN A SLUMP: After opening the season with a 4-1 win over Marian, the Cobbers have gone 0-2-1 in their last three games — dropping a 3-2 decision to Marian in the teams’ rematch, before last weekend’s 0-1-1 showing vs. UW-River Falls.

• HOME SWEET HOME: This weekend’s games against Saint Mary’s are the fifth and sixth of seven consecutive home games to open the season. Concordia plays 11 of its first 13 games on its home ice — the lone exceptions, a two-game conference series against St. Olaf on Nov. 19-20.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Concordia’s 11 goals this season have come from seven different players. Brady Tatro leads the Cobbers with three goals, one more than both Kevin Ness and Parker Simonson, while Tyler Bossert, Braden Costello, Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe, and Cole O’Connell have netted the other four.

• ASSISTING THE CAUSE: Bossert and Alex Stoley have each dished out a team-leading three assists, one more than Nicholas Ness, while nine other Cobbers have collected one assist.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Bossert (1 G, 3 A) and Tatro (3 G, 1 A) are the team’s points leaders with four each, followed by Simonson (2 G, 1 A) and Stoley (0 G, 3 A) with three points each.

• GOAL NO. 1: Simonson’s goal at 8:44 of the third period in CC’s 4-1 win over Marian on Oct. 29 was the Cobbers’ first goal of the season. Concordia went on to score three more third-period goals in that 4-1, season-opening win.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Aaron Dickstein and Jackson Nelson have shared the goaltending duties for the Cobbers, with both making two starts through four games. Dickstein has amassed a 3.91 goals-against average and .864 save percentage, while Nelson boasts a 1.44 GAA and .943 save percentage. … Nelson has been in goal for CC’s win and tie, while Dickstein is 0-2-0 in his two starts.

• SCORING EARLY, AND LATE: The Cobbers have scored five goals in both the first and third period, while managing just one goal in the middle frame. On the flip side, Concordia has allowed four goals in each of the first two periods and three in the third.