HEAD COACH:

• Ryan Egan (4th season)

THE RECORDS:

• 2021-22: 5-7-0 MIAC | 8-14-1 Overall

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

• Brady Lindauer (Senior * Forward | 2021-22: 23 GP, 5 G, 11 A, 16 Pts | Honorable-mention All-MIAC in 2021-22. … Led the team in both assists (11) and points (16), and was tied for second in goals (5) in 2021-22. … Posted three two-point games in 2021-22 — including back-to-back two-points in the team’s season-finale against Bethel).

• Bud Winter (Junior * Forward | 2021-22: 23 GP, 5 G, 6 A, 11 Pts | Was second on the team in goals (5) in 2021-22, after leading the team in goals and sharing the team lead in points in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. … Recorded two, two-assist games in 2021-22 and has now recorded two or more points in a game six times in his career — including two, two-goal games. … Netted his first collegiate goal vs. Concordia on Feb. 6, 2021).

• Gabe Potyk (Sophomore * Forward | 2021-22: 23 GP, 7 G, 2 A, 9 Pts | Closed out his freshman year as the team-leader with seven goals … Scored first collegiate goal vs. UW-Supeiror on Nov. 5).

• Callahan Nauss (Sophomore * Defense | 2021-22: 22 GP, 1 G, 7 A, 8 Pts | Honorable-mention All-MIAC, MIAC All-Rookie Team, and USCHO All-Rooke Team in 2021-22. … Shared the team lead among SMU defensemen in assists (7) and points (8) in 2021-22. … Scored his first collegiate goal against nationally ranked Augsburg on Feb. 11, 2022).

• Matt Sankner (Sophomore * Goalie | 2021-22: 15 GP, 2.83 GAA, .910 save % | Honorable-mention All-MIAC in 2021-22. … Recorded first collegiate win with a career-high 35-save effort against Saint John’s on Nov. 18, 2021, and equaled that career-high with 35 saves against MSOE on Dec. 7, 2021. … Stopped 30 or more shots five times in 2021-22).

BY THE NUMBERS: 

• 4: Callahan Nauss (Wayzata, Minn.) recorded a single-game, season-high four assists against Hamline on Jan. 21, 2022. Nauss’ four assists against the Pipers marked the first time Saint Mary’s has had a player record four helpers in a game since Jack Stang achieved the feat against Augsburg on Jan. 31, 2020. 

• 5: The Cardinals boasted five players with 10 or more points in 2021-22 — Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill. / 5 G, 11 A, 16 Pts), Jack Hutton (Carmel, Ind. / 5 G, 9 A, 14 Pts), Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta / 4 G, 8 A, 12 Pts), Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo. / 5 G, 6 A, 11 Pts), and Trevor Schroder (Des Moines, Iowa / 3 G, 7 A, 10 Pts).

• 10: Saint Mary’s 10 points against Augsburg on Feb. 11, 2022 — four goals and six assists — came to from 10 different players.

• 10: The Cardinals boasted 10 players who scored their first collegiate goals in 2021-22 — Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.), Gabe Potyk (Lake Orion, Mich.), Matt Hutton (Carmel, Ind.), Kasyn Kruse (Luverne, Minn.), Alex Cannon (South Bend, Ind.), Callahan Nauss (Wayzata, Minn.), Warner Young (Newberry, Mich.), Nathan Solis (Saline, Mich.), Trevor Paradise (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.).

• 31: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) kicked out all 31 shots he faced in the Cardinals’ 4-0 win over Bethel on Feb. 19 en route to his first collegiate shutout.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The 2021-22 Cardinals made their fifth appearance in the MIAC Playoffs since 2002, and their first since 2019. Saint Mary’s — which has also appeared in the conference tournament in 2017, 2015, and 2004 — reached the MIAC championship game in 2015, falling to Hamline 4-2.

DID YOU KNOW, PART II?

• The Cardinals’ season-high 57 shots on goal against Bethel on Feb. 18 were the most since the Cardinals peppered Northland with 61 shots on goal on Nov. 21, 2006.

DID YOU KNOW, PART III?

• It took 22 games, but the Cardinals finally had their first multiple-goal performance on Feb. 19, 2022, when Matt Hutton (Carmel, Ind.) scored two of SMU’s four goals in their 4-0 win over Bethel. Saint Mary’s did not have a player score two goals in a game in any of its first 21 contests.

THIS AND THAT: 

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Gabe Potyk (Lake Orion, Mich.) closed out his freshman season leading the team with seven goals, two more than Matt Hutton (Carmel, Ind.), Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.), and Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.), while Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.), and Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) all finished with four goals. 

• LENDING A HAND: The Cardinals had a single-game season-high three players — Hutton, Cannon, and Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario), pick up two assists in SMU’s 4-1 win over Gustavus on Feb. 8. … Lindauer and Winter both had two assists in SMU’s 4-0 victory against Bethel on Feb. 26. … Nauss recorded a career-high four assists and Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.) chipped in a pair of helpers in SMU’s 4-1 win over Hamline on Jan. 21.

• LENDING A HAND, TAKE 2: Lindauer closed out the year with a team-best 11 assists, with Hutton sitting second with nine and Stoynich third with eight

• CLOSING THE YEAR ON FIRE: Lindauer closed out his junior season recording at least one point in six of the team’s last seven games — scoring three goals and adding five assists in that span — while Hutton recorded at least one point in five of the Cardinals’ last six games, scoring three times and adding a pair of assists. … Hutton collected at least one point in 11 of the 19 games he played — including eight of the last 11 contests.

• NETTING THE GAME-WINNER: Saint Mary’s eight game-winning goals came from seven different players — Tharaldson owned two, with Poellinger, Schroder, Stoynich, Kruse, Potyk, and Liverance accounting for the other six.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) closed out his freshman campaign boasting a 2.83 goals-against-average and .910 save percentage in 15 appearances (752:15). Sankner, 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 stopped 30 or more shots five times.… Connor Close (Des Moines, Iowa) recorded a season-high 32-save showing in the Cardinals’ 2-1 loss to Hamline on Jan. 22. Close — who collected his first collegiate win against UW-River Falls on Jan. 15 — owned a 2.78 GAA and an .897 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 ended the year with a 4.57 GAA and an .860 save percentage.

• AS A TEAM: The Cardinals ended the year with 57 goals — including 13 power-play tallies — while adding 97 assists for 154 points. … Saint Mary’s scored a season-high four goals six times — beating Gustavus 4-1 on Feb. 8, Hamline 4-2 on Jan. 21, UW-Superior 4-3 on Nov. 5, St. Olaf 4-1 on Dec. 3, and Bethel 4-0 last Saturday; and falling to Augsburg 5-4 on Feb. 11.

• FIRST-GOAL SUCCESS: In 19 of Saint Mary’s 23 games, the team that scored first went on to win. The Cardinals were 6-1-0 when scoring first, while going 2-13-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• WORKING OVERTIME: The Cardinals’ 3-3 tie against Lawrence on Nov. 23 was their third OT contest of the 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.