• 4-FOR-4: The Cardinals picked up their fourth straight shutout win to open the season on Saturday, blanking Marian 4-0. Saint Mary's has also blanked UW-Superior (2-0), Coe (1-0), and Martin Luther (11-0) en route to their 4-0-0 start.
• STRONG START: Saint Mary's has now opened the season 4-0-0 for the second time in the last three seasons. The Cardinals kicked off the 2019 campaign winning their first four games. The last time the Cardinals won more than four straight to open the season was 2007, when Saint Mary's opened 5-0-0. SMU also opened 5-0-0 in 2006, while going 8-0-0 in 2005.
• FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET: Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.), Brooklyn McKinney (Thornton, Colo.), Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.), and Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) accounted for Saint Mary's four goals against Marian Saturday.
• ASSISTING IN THE CAUSE: Genesis Capacio (Las Vegas, Nev.) picked up assists on two of the Cardinals' four goals against Marian Saturday for her first collegiate two-assist game.
• DOUBLE DIGITS: Saint Mary's 11-goal outburst in Monday's 11-0 win over Martin Luther 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.
• DOUBLING UP: Saint Mary's had four players score two goals in Monday's 11-0 win over Martin Luther. Matthews, Arriaga, McKinney and Megan Trindle (Castle Rock, Colo.) all posted two-goal games against the Knights. The two-goal game was the sixth multiple-goal game for Matthews, and the first career two-goal game for Arriaga, McKinney, and Trindle.
• CAREER FIRSTS: The Cardinals have had five players score their first collegiate goals this season. Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) 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 Monday's 11-0 win over Martin Luther.
• FIRST OF THE SEASON: Falkman's goal in the fifth minute against UW-Superior Wednesday was the Cardinals' first of the season.
• THE BRICK WALL: Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) recorded her second career shutout, stopping the lone shot she faced in the Cardinals' 2-0 win over UW-Superior. The junior followed that up by recorded her second straight one-save shutout in SMU's 1-0 win over Coe three days later.… Nguyen tallied her first collegiate shutout with a two-save effort against Gustavus on May 2, 2021. … Nguyen stopped the one shot she faced in the first half of Monday's 11-0 win over Martin Luther and the two shots she faced in 73 minutes against Marian, before giving way to Madison Mora (Honolulu, Hawaii), who did not face a shot in either appearance.
• TOTAL DOMINATION: The Cardinals hold a commanding 88-8 advantage in shots attempted through four games — including a 50-5 edge in shots on goal. Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) — who took a season-high 10 shots against Coe last Saturday — leads the team with 27 shots, including 13 on goal.
• ROAD WARRIORS: Sunday's game at Ripon marks the fourth time in five games this season — and eighth time in the last 10 contests — that the Cardinals have played on the road. … Sunday's game at Ripon is the second of three straight road contests in a span of four days for SMU, which opens MIAC play at Carleton on Tuesday.
• PERFECTION: With their 11-0 win over Martin Luther last Monday, the Cardinals improved to 7-0-0 all-time against MLC and have outscored the Knights by a combined 45-5. |
• STILL SEARCHING: Ripon saw its season-opening losing streak climb to four straight Saturday afternoon, as the Red Hawks dropped a 15-0 decision to Illinois Tech in Chicago, Ill.
• ROAD WEARY: Ripon's game at Illinois Tech Saturday was the Red Hawks' fourth straight road game to open the season. Sunday's matchup with Saint Mary's is the first of three consecutive home games. Following its game against Saint Mary's, Ripon will host Maranatha Baptist on Tuesday and Finlandia on Saturday.
• AN OFFENSE SILENCED: The Red Hawks enter Sunday's game against Saint Mary's having been outscored 35-0, falling to UW-Oshkosh 7-0, Central-Iowa 8-0, Coe 5-0, and Illinois Tech 15-0.
• SHOOTING WOES: The Red Hawks — who were outshot 57-1 against Illinois Tech, including 34-1 in shots on goal — have now been outshot 155-3, including 98-4 in SOG.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Lucie Hodgkins stopped 10 of the 17 shots she faced in 45:00 of work against Illinois Tech, while Maddy Spranger had eight saves on 16 shots.
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