• BACK ON TRACK: The Cardinals, coming off a 0-0 tie against Saint Benedict on Sept. 18, got a pair of goals from Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) and 10 saves from Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) en route to a 2-1 victory over St. Catherine Saturday.
• STREAKING ALONG: The Cardinals' 2-1 win over St. Catherine Saturday pushed their unbeaten streak to eight (7-0-1). SMU's 0-0 tie against Saint Benedict on Sept. 18 had snapped SMU's season-opening six-game winning streak — its longest win streak to open the season since going 8-0-0 in 2005.
• ONE GOT PAST: St. Catherine's goal in the game's 72nd minute was the first allowed by the Cardinals this season — ending a span of 722:13 scoreless minutes. Saint Mary's has now outscored its opponents 26-1.
• TOUGH SLATE: With their 2-1 win over St. Catherine, Saint Mary's has now faced three teams that qualified for the 2019 MIAC Tournament in their first three MIAC games this season. SMU is 2-0-1 against those three.
• RED-HOT: Jordyn Matthews scored both of the Cardinals' goals in Saturday's 2-1 win over St. Catherine — it was her second two-goal game of the season and seventh multiple-goal game of her three-year collegiate career.
• LEADER OF THE PACK: Haddy Falkman's (Waconia, Minn.) first-half goal against Carleton on Sept. 14 was her team-leading sixth of the season. The junior has netted at least one goal in five of the team's eight games.
• 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, Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.), 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.
• CAREER FIRSTS: The Cardinals have had five players score their first collegiate goals this season. 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 Monday's 11-0 win over Martin Luther.
• OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Falkman's team-high six goals are one more than Matthews and two in front of Arriaga. Genesis Capacio (Las Vegas, Nev.) owns the team lead in assists with four, while Falkman boasts a team-best 14 points.
• THE BRICK WALL: Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) stopped a career-high 10 shots in SMU's 2-1 win over St. Catherine on Saturday. … Nguyen posted her fourth of the season, stopping all four shots she faced in SMU's 0-0 tie against Saint Benedict on Sept. 18. … Nguyen has now made 25 saves this season.
• CONFERENCE HONORS: Nguyen was named MIAC Athlete of the Week on Sept.20, after stopping all six shots she faced in back-to-back shutouts against Carleton and Saint Benedict.
• FIRST APPEARANCES: Leah LeBrun (Antioch, Ill.) and Megan Nadal (Chino, Calif.) each made their first career appearances in goal for the Cardinals against Ripon last Sunday — with neither having to face a shot.
• DOUBLE DIGITS: Saint Mary's 11-goal outburst in its 11-0 win over Martin Luther last Monday 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.
• NUMBERS DO LIE: St. Catherine outshot Saint Mary's 19-5, including 11-2 in shots on goal — but the Cardinals came away with the 2-1 win.
• TOTAL DOMINATION: The Cardinals hold a commanding 156-55 advantage in shots attempted through eight games — including a 84-26 edge in shots on goal. Saint Mary's attempted a season-high 40 shots against Ripon on Sept. 12, while their 24 shots on goal against the Red Hawks were also a season high. … Matthews — who took a season-high 10 shots against Coe on Sept. 4— leads the team with 38 shots, including 19 on goal.
• STRIKING FAST: Saint Mary's has scored at least one goal in the first half in seven of its eight games this season. SMU has outscored its opponents 17-0 in the first half and 9-1 in the second.
• 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.
• FIT TO BE TIED: Saint Mary's has been off since last Saturday, when they battled Saint Benedict to a 0-0, double-overtime tie. 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: With their 2-1 win over St. Catherine on Saturday, the Cardinals 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. |
• SATURDAY BLUES: The Blue Devils suffered their second loss in as many Saturday contests, falling to Viterbo 2-1. UW-Stout's other Saturday loss, a 1-0 decision to Macalester on Sept. 18, was the Blue Devils' first loss of the season.
• STRONG START: UW-Stout opened the season 5-0-1, before dropping two of its last three  — the lone win a 4-2 victory over UM-Morris last Sunday.
• FIRING UP BLANKS: Five of UW-Stout's six wins have come via shutout. The Blue Devils' shutout wins have come against Concordia (1-0), Benedictine (3-0), St. Scholastica (3-0), Cornell (1-0) and UW-Superior (2-0).
• MIAC FOES: Saint Mary's is the fifth of seven teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-Stout is 2-1-1 vs. the MIAC thus far and along with Saint Mary's, still have Hamline and Bethel on its slate.
• OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Liv Winkler enters Sunday's contest against Saint Mary's owning a team-leading four goals, one more than Lexi Boyd and Marissa Steele — who scored UW-Stout's lone goal against Viterbo Saturday. … Steele leads the Blue Devils in both assists (5) and points (11). … Steele has attempted a team-high 21 shots and leads the squad with 13 shots on goal.
 • BETWEEN THE PIPES: The Blue Devils have used two different goalies through nine games. Maley Vokaty boasts a 0.86 goals-against-average and a .684 save percentage in 630:00. Julia McNamar, meanwhile, has not allowed a goal in 180:00, stopping all seven shots she's faced. … Vokaty has stopped a team-high 13 shots and owns a team-leading three shutouts.
• OFFENSIVE DOMINANCE: UW-Stout has outscored its first nine opponents 16-6 — 4-1 in the first half and 12-5 in the second. UW-Stout holds a 112-53 advangtage in shots attempted and a 65-29 edge in shots on goal.
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