• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary's heads into Wednesday's MIAC Tournament semifinal against Saint Benedict boasting a 13-4-2 overall record. … 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.
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Cardinals closed out the regular season with a 7-3-1 conference record, good for third place — and the No. 3 seed in the six-team MIAC Tournament. SMU — makings its inaugural appearance in the post-season event, beat St. Scholastica on penalty kicks (4-1) after 110 minutes of scoreless action to earn a spot opposite second-seeded Saint Benedict.
• POST-SEASON HISTORY: The Cardinals are making their first-ever MIAC Tournament appearance since the league added the six-team tourney in 2003. Prior to Monday's tournament-opener against St. Scholastica, Saint Mary's had 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.
• PK PERFECTION: Saint Mary's was a perfect 4-for-4 in penalty kicks to seal their MIAC Tournament-opening win over St. Scholastica Monday. Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.), Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.), Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.), and Elisia Jensen (Gig Harbor, Wash.) all converted their PK attempts.
• FIT TO BE TIED: With their 0-0, double-overtime tie against Saint Benedict in their first meeting 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.
• CLOSE CALLS: Saint Mary's 0-0 tie against St. Scholastica in Monday's MIAC Tournament quarterfinal marked the 12th time in the last 13 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 boasted a near-perfect 5-1-2 record on their home turf this season. SMU closed out the regular season 8-3-0 away from Ochrymowycz Field.
• NONE BETTER: As a team, the Cardinals lead all MIAC teams in goals (38), assists (30), points (106), and goals-against-average (0.47).
• LEADER OF THE PACK: Falkman enters Wednesday's conference tournament semifinal against Saint Benedict 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. … Matthews 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 REGULAR-SEASON 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 — who stopped a career-high 10 shots in SMU's 2-1 win over St. Catherine on Sept.26 — posted her eighth shutout of the season against St. Scholastica in Monday's tournament opener, stopping both Saints shots on goal. The sophomore also made one save in the PK round. … Nguyen has now stopped 46 of the 49 shots she's faced for a 0.24 goals-against-average and .939 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 four overtime games this season, going 2-0-2. 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. … The Cardinals allowed just seven goals in 11 conference games — and have surrendered just nine goals all season. |
• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Benedict heads into post-season play boasting a 10-3-3 overall record. The Bennies have won six straight and are unbeaten in their last 11 games (8-0-3) — a streak that began with CSB's 0-0 tie against Saint Mary's on Sept. 18. The Bennies' last loss was a 1-0 decision to regular-season champion St. Catherine on Sept. 15.
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Bennies earned the No. 2 seed and a bye in the first round of the MIAC Tournament thanks to an 8-1-2 mark in conference play. CSB's only conference loss of the season came to regular-season champ St. Kate's, and the Bennies tied in double OT with both Saint Mary's and Augsburg.
• POST-SEASON HISTORY: This is the fourth straight MIAC Tournament appearance for CSB and the 11th in program history. In 2019, the Bennies picked up their first conference tournament victory since 2013, when they beat Carleton 3-2 in the first round. CSB won the league's postseason tournament in both 2011 and 2013.
• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the ninth home contest for the Bennies, who are 5-2-1 on their home turf this season. CSB owns a 5-1-2 record on the road.
• LEADING THE PACK: Roxy Veldman heads into Wednesday's matchup against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading seven goals, three more than Erica Golenzer and four in front of Alli Voss and Sydney Burns. Abby Willenbring, Caralyn Conners, Clair Lehmann, and Ella Young all enter post-season play with two goals each.
• ON THE ASSIST: Burns is the team's assist leader with four, while Voss, Willenbring, and Grace Navara have all collected three helpers through 16 games.
• POINTS RACE: Veldman has amassed a team-best 16 points, while Burns is also in double figures with 10 points.
• IN THE CLUTCH: Voss and Golenzer have both scored a team-leading two game-winning goals, with Veldman, Burns, Willenbring, Clara Noack, Ella Hinkemeyer, and Chloe Miller netting the other six.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Paige Kahlmeyer and Annie Waters have shared the goalkeeping duties this season, with Kahlmeyer boasting a 0.48 goals-against-average and .895 save percentage in nine starts, while Waters owns a 0.85 GAA and .860 save percentage in seven starts. … Waters leads the team in saves with 43, nine more than Kahlmeyer, and the two have combined for six shutouts.
• KEEPING IT CLOSE: Ten of Saint Benedict's 16 games this season have been decided by one goal or less — including each of its last three victories.
• MISFIRING: Saint Benedict has been shut out in all three of its losses this season — falling to No. 24 Wartburg (4-0), UW-Eau Claire (2-0), and St. Catherine (1-0). CSB has also been held without a goal in two of its three ties — 0-0 stalemates against both Saint Mary's and Central-Iowa.
• WORKING OVERTIME: Last Saturday's 1-0 victory over Carleton was Saint Benedict's fourth overtime game of the season — and first that did not end in a tie. Along with the 1-0 win, CSB has tied Saint Mary's (0-0), Central-Iowa (0-0) and Augsburg (1-1).
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