SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2022: 0-7-1 MIAC, 3-10-3 Overall

MACALESTER SCOTS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2022: 6-1-1 MIAC, 7-4-3 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video

SMU-MAC * LAST MEETING:

Oct. 26, 2021 * St. Paul, MN

T, 1-1 (2 ot) * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 22, 2022 * Winona, MN

Hamline * L, 3-2

MACALESTER * LAST ACTION:

Oct. 22, 2022 * Collegeville, MN

Saint John’s * W, 2-1

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Oct. 29, 2022 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * 3:30 p.m.

MACALESTER * UP NEXT:

Oct. 29, 2022 * St. Paul, MN

Gustavus * 3:30 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into Wednesday’s home finale against Macalester sitting at 3-9-3 overall, while owning an 0-6-1 mark in seven MIAC contests.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals surrendered what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 71st minute, as Hamline dealt SMU a 3-2 conference setback last Saturday at Ochrymowycz Field.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday's game against Macalester is the third straight home game for the Cardinals, who close out the regular season on the road on Saturday, heading to St. Scholastica. … SMU has picked up two of its three wins on its home field. The Cardinals are 2-7-0 at home, while going 1-3-3 away from Ochrymowycz Field.

• CLOSE CALLS: Twenty-one of the Cardinals’ last 30 games have been decided by one goal or less — including eight of SMU’s 16 games this season.

• FIT TO BE TIED: The Cardinals’ three ties this season — including a 0-0 deadlock against Concordia on Oct. 1 — are the most since the 2015 season, when Saint Mary’s finished the year with three ties en route to a 6-9-3 overall record.

• SCORELESS TUSSLE: SMU’s 0-0 tie against Concordia on Oct. 1 was its first 0-0 outcome since battling Saint John’s to a scoreless draw on April 21, 2021.

• OFFENSIVE LIFE: Garrett Jackson’s (West Linn, Ore.) goal in the seventh minute last Saturday against Hamline snapped a six-game goalless drought for the Cardinals, who scored more goals against the Pipers than they had in their previous 10 games combined.

• OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Jacob Clements (Holmen, Wis.) joined Jack Hurley (Homewood, Ill.) and Cerim Palislamovic (Jacksonville, Fla.) atop the team lead in goals (3) with his second-half tally against Hamline last Saturday.  share the team lead with three goals each. Jacob Clements (Holmen, Wis.). Rolando Lopez (Berwyn, Ill.) is fourth in goals with two, while Jackson, Kyle Palmberg (Holmen, Wis.), Santiago Montero (Phoenix, Ariz.), and Nathan Riess (Timnath, Colo.) own SMU’s other four goals.

• LENDING A HAND: Palislamovic picked up assists on both SMU goals against Hamline last Saturday, while Clements, Jackson, Cohan Hare (New Richmond, Wis.), Alex Keeler (Antioch, Ill.), Marshall Briggs (Phoenix, Ariz.), and Liam Boyle (Westchester, Ill.) all own one assist on the year.

• POINT PRODUCER: Palislamovic leads the Cardinals in points with eight (3 G, 2 A), one more than Clements (3 G, 1 A) and two in front of Hurley (3 G, 0 A). 

• CAREER FIRSTS: The Cardinals have had four players net their first collegiate goals this season — Montero tallied his first as a Cardinal against Crown on Sept. 1; Lopez netted his against Rockford on Sept. 4; Palmberg scored his vs. Ripon on Sept. 7; and Nathan Riess (Timnath, Colo.) collected goal No. 1 against Martin Luther on Sept. 10.

• CAREER FIRST, PART II: Palislamovic’s two goals against Martin Luther on Sept. 10 marked the first time in his collegiate career that the sophomore has scored two goals in a game, while he recorded his first multiple-assist game with his two helpers against Hamline last Saturday.

• PLENTY OF PKs: The Cardinals are 4-for-5 in penalty kicks this season. Hurley has accounted for three of SMU’s four PK goals, while Palislamovic owns the other. … Saint Mary’s two PK goals against Martin Luther on Sept. 10 are the most in a game since Eli Szymanski scored two penalty-kick goals against Edgewood on Sept. 9, 2021. … The last time the Cardinals scored more than four PKs in a season was 2007, when they went 7-for-8.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Daniel Sessler (Brookfield, Ill.) has started 14 of the team’s 16 games in goal for the Cardinals, compiling a 1.81 goals-against-average and an .809 save percentage. The junior has made 106 saves in his 15 appearances — tops in the MIAC. … Jake Wing (Verona, Wis.) has appeared in four games in goal (136:05 minutes), stopping 11 of the 21 shots he’s faced, while Connor Petrich (Arden Hills, Minn.) has played in three games (62:33 minutes), having stopped one of the three shots he’s faced.

• SHUTTING THEM OUT: Sessler’s 12-save shutout against Concordia on Oct. 1 was his first of the season and third of his three-year collegiate career.

• BUSY NIGHTS: Sessler has now made 10 or more saves four times this season, including equaling his career-high of 12 saves three times. … Sessler has now stopped 12 shots in a game four times over his collegiate career. 

• AS A TEAM: The Cardinals have scored 16 goals in 16 games, while attempting 140 shots, including 68 on goal. On the flip side, SMU’s opponents have attempted 301 shots, with 157 finding the mark. … The Cardinals have been outscored 19-11 in the game’s opening half, while being outscored 18-5 in the second half. 

• STREAK SNAPPER: Saint Mary’s 3-0 loss to Carleton on Sept. 13 snapped the Cardinals’ season-opening five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) — SMU’s longest unbeaten run since rattling off six straight wins during the 1997 season.

• STRONG START: The Cardinals’ 3-0-2 start was their best since opening the 1986 season 4-0-1, and the third-best start in program history. The 1983 Saint Mary’s team went 13 games without a loss to open the season, going 11-0-2.

• OFF AND RUNNING: With their 2-1 victory over Crown on Sept. 1, the Cardinals improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven season-openers, the lone blemish a 3-0 loss to the University of Dubuque a year ago, and a 1-1 tie with St. Olaf during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. 

• GOOD KNIGHT: Saint Mary’s five-goal effort against Martin Luther on Sept. 10 was a season-high, and the most goals scored in a game since netting five against the Knights in last season’s 5-0 victory.

• TOTAL DOMINATION: With their 5-2 win on Sept. 10, the Cardinals are now a perfect 7-0-0 all-time against Martin Luther, and have outscored the Knights 26-2 in those seven meetings.

• TOTAL DOMINATION II: With their season-opening, 2-1 win over Crown on Sept. 1, SMU improved to 6-1-1 all-time against the Polars — including a 5-0-1 mark in the teams’ last six meetings.

• NEW THIS YEAR: The NCAA implemented a new rule beginning with the 2022 that will eliminate all overtimes in regular-season games. Games that are deadlocked following the scheduled 90 minute will go in the books as ties. Once in post-season, if a game is tied following regulation, there will be two, 10-minute overtime periods — with no golden goal — followed by a shootout if the game is still tied. 

MACALESTER SCOTS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Scots enter their final road game of the regular-season sitting at 7-4-3 overall, including a near-perfect 6-1-1 mark through eight MIAC contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: Macalester scored a pair of second-half goals and held off a late Saint John’s rally in dealing the Johnnies a 2-1 conference setback last Saturday in Collegeville, Minn.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Wednesday’s game at Saint Mary’s is the second of back-to-back road contests for the Scots, who own a 4-2-2 record away from home this season. Macalester is 3-1-2 in six games on its home turf at Macalester Stadium.

• ON A ROLL: Macalester heads into Wednesday’s showdown with Saint Mary’s riding a three-game winning streak. The Scots have outscored their opponents during their current three-game run — blanking St, Scholastica (4-0) and Carleton (3-0), prior to last Saturday’s 2-1 win at Saint John’s.

• NAILBITERS: Three of Macalester’s four losses this season have been by one goal. In fact, all three of those losses were by 1-0 decisions. The Scots’ other loss was a lopsided, 4-0 setback at the hands of St. Olaf.

• BIG OFFENSE = WINS: The Scots have outscored their opponents 25-4 in their seven wins — including netting three of more goals in six of those seven victories. Macalester netted a season-high six goals in blanking North Central 6-0 on Sept. 1.

• OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Branko Sciortino and Hans Haenicke share the team lead in goals with six each, while Thomas Dono and Milosz Ferandez-Kepka have each scored three times through 14 games. Grant Luce and Joey Stern both owns two goals, with Zade Alafranji, Parker Etzbach, Jacob Kresnicka, and Alex Beck-Ruiz accounting for Macalester’s other four goals. … Sciortino, Dono, Stern, and Haenicke have all recorded two-goal games this season.

• HITTING THE GAME-WINNER: Four of Sciortino’s team-leading six goals have been game-winners, with Haenicke, Dono, and Fernandez-Kepka collecting the Scots’ other three game-winners.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Alafranji leads the Scots with four assists, one more than both Dono and Etzbach, while Sciortino, Fernandez-Kepka, Nick Kent, and Ian Staresinic have all picked up two helpers.

• POINT PRODUCTION: Sciortino and Haenicke have both amassed more than 10 points through 14 games, with Sciortino leading the way with 14 (6 G, 2 A), one in front of Haenicke (6 G, 1 A). … Haenicke posted a single-game, season-high five points against Hamline on Oct. 1.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Sam Price has started all 14 games in goal for the Scots, compiling a 0.89 goals-against-average and an .833 save percentage. … Price has stopped 60 of the 72 shots he faced, including a season-high seven-save effort against both Augsburg on Sept. 17 and Bethel on Sept. 28. … Price has recorded four solo shutouts, while also added a pair of combined shutouts — one with Mitchell Kastilahn and the other with Ronan Murphy. … Kastilahn stopped the lone shot he faced in 45:00 minutes of work, while Murphy made one save in 5:08 minutes of action.

• BY THE NUMBERS: The Scots have outscored their opponents 26-12. The Scots hold a 9-7 edge in the first half, while boasting a 17-5 scoring advantage after the intermission. … Macalester has attempted 183 shots, including 92 that have found the net. On the flip side, the Scots’ opponents have attempted 168 shots, including 73 shots on goal.