SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

(4-9-1 Overall)

Team Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

UW-RIVER FALLS FALCONS

(9-6-1 Overall)

Team Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

Live Stats | Streaming Video

LAST MEETING:

Jan. 18, 2020

L, 4-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY'S LAST ACTION:

Jan. 14, 2022 * Stout * L, 6-3

UW-RIVER FALLS LAST ACTION: 

Jan. 14, 2022 * St. Olaf * L, 4-2

SAINT MARY'S UP NEXT:

Jan. 21, 2022 * Hamline * 7:00

SMU Ice Arena * Winona, MN

Jan. 22, 2022 * Hamline * 7:00

TRIA Rink * St. Paul, MN 

UW-RIVER FALLS UP NEXT: 

Jan. 21-22, 2022

Stevens Pt. * 7:00

Hunt Arena * River Falls, WI

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s enters its nonconference game of the season against UW-River Falls sitting at 4-9-1 overall, including a 5-3-0 record in conference play

• LAST NIGHT: UW-Stout scored five unanswered goals — including four in the second period — as the Blue Devils dealt the Cardinals a 6-3 nonconference setback Friday evening at Dunn County Arena in Menomonie, Wis.

• FINAL”BREAK”: Saturday’s showdown with UW-River Falls is the final nonconference game of the season for the Cardinals, who will close out the 2021-22 regular season with two-game conference series against Hamline, Gustavus, Augsburg, and Bethel.

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Cardinals’ last nine goals have come from eight different players. Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.), and Thomas Magnavite (Chicago, Ill.) netted SMU’s three goals against UW-Stout Friday, while 

Saint Mary’s six goals against St. Olaf on Dec. 3-4 came from Poellinger, Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.), Andrew Froese (Traverse City, Mich.), Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.), Gabe Potyk (Lake Orion, Mich.) and Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.). Saint Mary’s has yet to have a multiple-goal scorer this season.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: With his goal against UW-Stout Friday, Poellinger moved into a tie for the team lead with four goals, sharing the top spot with Winter, one goal in front of Kasyn Kruse (Luverne, Minn.) and Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta). Potyk, Froese, Matt Hutton (Carmel, Ind.), Trevor Schroder (Des Moines, Iowa), and Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ind.) all own two goals, while Kiemel, Magnavite, Hanson, Wilhelm, Tharaldson, Liverance, and Trevor Paradise (Colorado Springs, Colo.) have netted SMU’s other seven goals.

• FIRST AS A CARDINAL: The Cardinals boast six players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season — Tharaldson, Kruse, Paradise, Poellinger, Potyk, and Hutton.

• LENDING A HAND: Hutton has recorded a team-best six assists, followed by Schroder and Lindauer with five, and Poellinger and Wilhelm  with four. Fifteen other Cardinals have collected  at least one helper through 11 games.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Along with his team-high six assists, Hutton (2 G, 6 A) shares the team lead in points (8) with Poellinger (4 G, 4 A), followed by Winter (4 G, 3 A, 7 Pts), Lindauer (2 G, 5 A, 7 Pts), Schroder (2 G, 5 A, 7 Pts), Kruse (3 G, 2 A, 5 Pts), and Stoynich (3 G, 2 A, 5 Pts).

• MULTIPLE-POINT PERFORMANCES: With the two-point performances by Poellinger and Sam Hanson (Eau Claire, Wis.) on Dec. 3 against St. Olaf, the Cardinals have had 10 players post multiple-point games this season — led by Stoynich, Hutton, and Winter, who have achieved the feat twice.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.), who recorded his first collegiate win with a career-high 35-save effort against Saint John’s on Nov. 18, equaled that career-high with 35 saves against MSOE on Dec. 7. … Sankner has stopped 30 or more shots four times this season. Sankner heads into Saturday’s game against UW-River Falls carrying a 2.95 goals-against-average and .910 save percentage. … A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) notched his first collegiate win on Nov. 5, making 28 saves in SMU’s 4-3 win over UW-Superior. Ruskowski followed up that effort by stopping a career-best 43 shots in the Cardinals’ 4-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire the following evening. … Ruskowski owns a 4.57 GAA and an .860 save percentage.

• AS A TEAM: The Cardinals have scored 28 goals through their first 13 games, including eight on the power-play. Saint Mary’s has scored a season-high four goals twice this season — beating UW-Superior 4-3 on Nov. 5, and dropping St. Olaf 4-1 on Dec. 3.

• FINDING THEIR GROOVE: The Cardinals’ sweep of St. Olaf in their last conference action on Dec. 3-4, marked their first conference sweep since taking two from Concordia (3-2, 5-0) on Nov. 15-16, 2019.

• STREAKING ALONG: The Cardinals picked up their first win of the season on Nov. 5, snapping a season-opening three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over UW-Superior. SMU put an end to its second three-game losing with their 2-1 victory over Saint John’s on Nov. 18. SMU is 2-1-1 in its last four games.

• FIRST-GOAL SUCCESS: In 11 of Saint Mary’s first 14 games this season, the team that has scored first has gone on to win. The Cardinals are 3-1-0 when scoring first, while going 1-8-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• WORKING OVERTIME: The Cardinals’ 3-3 tie against Lawrence on Nov. 23 was third OT contest this season. SMU dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Saint John’s on Nov. 20, while falling 4-3 in OT to Lake Forest in its season-opener on Nov. Oct. 29.

• FOR THE RECORD: The Falcons head into Saturday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s boasting a 9-6-1 overall record, including a 5-2-0 showing in WIAC play.

• LAST NIGHT: St. Olaf broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of third-period goals, as the Oles dealt UW-River Falls a 4-2 nonconference setback Friday evening at Hunt Arena in River Falls, Wis.

• AGAINST THE MIAC: UW-River Falls’ game against Saint Mary’s on Saturday is the Falcons’ final contest against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UWRF is currently 4-4-1 vs. the MIAC, beating Gustavus (3-1), winning and tying vs. Concordia (W, 5-3; T, 2-2), splitting against both Bethel (W, 4-3; L, 5-1) and Augsburg (W, 2-1; L, 2-1), and losing to Hamline (2-0) and St. Olaf (4-2).

• HOME SWEET HOME: UW-River Falls welcomes Saint Mary’s to Hunt Arena boasting a 5-2-0 record on their home ice. The Falcons, who are playing their third of five straight home games, are 4-4-1 on the road this season.

• CLOSE CALLS: Eleven of UW-River Falls’ 16 games have been decided by two goals or less — including Friday’s 4-2 loss to St. Olaf. The lone exceptions — wins over (Finlandia (4-1) and UW-Stout (5-1, 7-2), and losses to UW-Stevens Point (5-0) and Bethel (5-1).

• TURNING UP THE HEAT: The Falcons scored a season-high seven goals in their mid-week, 7-2 win over UW-Stout on Tuesday. UW-River Falls’ seven goals came from seven different players, while Noah Roofe, Noah Genske, and Valentino Passarelli all posted three-point nights with a goal and two assists.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Roofe enters Saturday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s leading the Falcons with six goals, two more than Cayden Cahill and Caleb Anderson. UW-River Falls’ 44 goals have come from 17 different players. … Passarelli and Roofe have both posted two-goal games this season — Passarelli against UW-Eau Claire on Dec. 4 and Roofe against UW-Stout on Dec. 11.

• ASSISTING THE CAUSE: Ganske has served up a team-best eight assists, followed by Gibb Coady with seven, and Roofe, Cahill, and Alex Davis with six each. … UW-River Falls has had a player record two assists in a game six times, led by Roofe who has achieved the feat twice.

• POINT PRODUCERS: The Falcons boast four players with 10 or more points through 16 games. Roofe (6 G, 6 A) leads the way with 12 points, one more than Ganske (3 G, 8 A) and two in front of both Coady (3 G, 7 A) and Cahill (4 G, 6 A). … The Falcons have gotten at least one point from 23 different players.

• CLUTCH PERFORMER: Three of Anderson’s four goals have been game-winners. Passarelli owns a pair of game-winning tallies, while Roofe, Cahill, Davis, and Josh Arnold have scored the other four game-winners.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Dysen Skinner and Dean Buchholz have shared the goaltending duties this season. Skinner has compiled a 2.20 goals-against-average and .908 save percentage in 10 starts, while Buchholz boasts a 2.64 GAA and .892 save percentage in six starts. … Skinner has recorded a team-high 218 saves, with Buchholz close behind with 132. … Skinner stopped all 21 shots he faced against Northland on Nov. 20 en route to the team’s lone shutout.

• AS A TEAM: The Falcons have scored 44 goals and added 78 assists for 122 points in 16 games. UWRF owns five power-play goals and a pair of shorthanded tallies. … The Falcons have netted four goals or more six times through 15 games — including their season-high seven-goal effort in Tuesday’s 7-2 win over UW-River Falls.