SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

(9-4-1 MIAC, 12-8-1 OVERALL)

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BETHEL ROYALS

(4-6-1 MIAC, 6-10-1 OVERALL)

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LAST MEETING:

L, 4-1 * L, 2-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY'S LAST ACTION:

Feb. 11, 2022 * Augsburg * W, 3-1

Feb. 12, 2022 * Augsburg * W, 2-1

BETHEL LAST ACTION: 

Feb. 11, 2022 * Concordia * L, 3-2

Feb. 12, 2022 * Concordia * L, 2-1

SAINT MARY'S UP NEXT:

Feb. 19, 2022 * Bethel * 2:00

SMU Ice Arena * Winona, MN

BETHEL UP NEXT: 

Feb. 19, 2022 * Saint Mary’s * 2:00

SMU Ice Arena * Winona, MN

• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into their two-game conference series against Bethel boasting a 12-8-1 overall record, including a 9-4-1 mark in conference play — leaving SMU sitting in the top four in the MIAC standings (third in record at 9-4-1 and fourth in winning percentage at .690)

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals held Augsburg to just single goals in both games in sweeping the Auggies in their two-game MIAC series. SMU scored single goals in all three periods — including the game-winning goal with 42 seconds remaining in the second stanza — en route to a 3-1 victory over Augsburg in Winona, Minn., before scoring two unanswered goals to erase an early 1-0 Augsburg lead in completing the sweep with a 2-1 win the following evening in Minneapolis, Minn.

• WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: With their 3-1 and 2-1 wins over Augsburg last weekend, 10 of the Cardinals’ 12 wins this season have been decided by two goals or less. All told, 12 of SMU’s 21 games have been decided by two goals or less.

• HOME & ROAD ICE ADVANTAGE: The Cardinals improved to 7-4-0 on the road with last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Augsburg, while SMU’s 3-1 victory the night before moved its record to 5-3-1 at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.

• BRING OUT THE BROOMS: Saint Mary’s 3-1, 2-1 wins over Augsburg last weekend marked the third time this season the Cardinals have posted a conference sweep — having also swept St. Olaf (2-1, 2-1) and Concordia (3-2, 3-1).

• SCORE GOALS, WIN GAMES: Saint Mary’s has scored 30 goals in its 12 wins this season — including a season high four goals in beating both St. Norbert and Worcester State by 4-1 counts. The Cardinals have managed just four goals in their seven losses.

• SHARING THE WEALTH: The Cardinals’ five goals against Augsburg last weekend came form five different players — Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.), Anne Carmean (), and Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.) scored in last Friday’s 3-1 win, while Kas Kingston (Black Diamond, Alberta) and Ellie Hegdahl (Brookings, S.D.) found the back of the net in the Cardinals’ 2-1 win the following afternoon

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: With her goal against Augsburg last Saturday, Kingston moved into a tie for the team lead (4) with Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.), one more than Wolf, Hegdahl, Morgan Leib (Farmington Hills, Mich.), and Jenna Kurkowski (North Branch, Minn.) 

Anna Braun (Mantorville, Minn.), 

• SWITCHING ROLES: Langley and Kingston accounted for all four goals in SMU’s sweep of St. Olaf on Dec. 3-4. Langley scored the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining in regulation in the first 2-1 win over Dec. 3, while Kingston netted the game-winner 13 seconds into overtime in the second 2-1 victory the following afternoon.

• JOINING THE CROWD: Abigail Painovich’s (Hinckley, Minn.) third-period goal against Hamline on Jan. 21 was the first of her collegiate career — becoming the 10th Cardinal player to net their first collegiate goal this season. She joins Hegdahl, Kingston, Urlaub, Polzin, Leib, Kurkowski, Katie Pierpont (Holt, Mich.), Nina Langley (Chaska, Minn.), and Anna Braun (Mantorville, Minn.).

• TWO FOR NO. 6: Urlaub picked up her first collegiate multiple-goal game, scoring both of SMU’s goals in SMU’s 2-1 win over Saint Benedict on Nov. 20. The two-goal game is Saint Mary’s first since Anne Carmean (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) found the back of the net twice in the Cardinals’ 4-0 win over … Saint Benedict … on March 13, 2021.

• LENDING A HAND: Avrey Simonson (Waupaca, Wis.) picked up her team-leading fourth assist against Augsburg last Friday, while five other Cardinals — Urlaub, Wolf, Anna Braun (Mantorville, Minn.), Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.), and Jordan Modjeski (South Lyon, Mich.) — have three assists each. … The Cardinals have gotten at least one assist from 19 different players.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Urlaub, Kingston, and Wolf share the team lead in points with six, followed by Polzin, Leib, Braun, Sheridan, and Simonson with five points each. 

• THE GAME-WINNER: Both of Leib’s goals against Concordia on Nov. 12-13 were game-winners. Kurkowski shares the team lead with two game-winners, while Carmean, Urlaub, Langley, Kingston, Pierpont, Polzin, Hegdahl, and Wolf own Saint Mary’s other six game-winners this season.

• MULTIPLE-POINTS: Braun recorded her first collegiate multiple-point night with two assists against Hamline last Friday. … Kurkowski’s three-point game against St. Norbert (2 G, 1 A) on Oct. 29 was the first of her collegiate career, and the three points were the most by a Cardinal in a game since Anne Carmean (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) scored two goals and added an assist against Saint Benedict on March 13, 2021. … Simonson (2 A) and Hegdahl (1 G, 1 A) both posted their first collegiate two-point games against Worcester on Jan. 6. … Kingston added an assist to her first career goal against St. Olaf en route to her first multiple-point game as a Cardinal.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) and Jordan Keeley (St. James, Minn.) have shared the goaltending duties this season. Ziakas enters SMU’s weekend series against Bethel with a 2.13 goals-against-average and .923 save percentage, while Keeley has compiled a 3.03 GAA and .901 save %. … Ziakas posted the best performance of her five-year collegiate career against Gustavus on Jan. 28 stopping 55 of the 56 shots she faced. The 55 saves were the most since Ashley Corcoran made 56 saves against Gustavus on Feb. 3, 2017. … Keeley kicked out a career-high 44 Concordia shots in SMU’s 3-1 win over the Cobbers on Nov. 13. … Ziakas has collected a team-leading 422 saves, with Keeley owning 128 saves.

• SHUTTING THEM OUT: Ziakas has recorded two shutouts this season — stopping all 12 shots she faced against Johnson & Wales en route to her first shutout of the season, and added a 29-save effort in shutting out St. Catherine last Friday for shutout No. 2 of the year. Ziakas now owns five shutouts in her Cardinal career.

• FIRST-GOAL ADVANTAGE: The team that has scored first has won 18 of the Cardinals’ 21 games this season — the lone exceptions, SMU’s come-from-behind wins over Hamline (3-2) and Augsburg (2-1), and 3 their 1-1 tie against Gustavus on Jan. 28.

ª FIT TO BE TIED: With their 1-1 stalemate against Gustavus on Jan. 28, the Cardinals have now played the Gusties to a draw at least once in each of the last four seasons.

• PROGRAM FIRSTS: Saint Mary’s nonconference games against Johnson & Wales and Worcester State on Jan. 5-6 marked the first time in program history the schools have met.

• STREAK-SNAPPER: The Cardinals snapped a 10-game winless streak (0-9-1) against Hamline with their 3-2 win over the Pipers on Jan. 21.

• FACING THE NATION’S BEST: The Cardinals’ two games against Gustavus on Jan. 28-29 marked the third and fourth times this season SMU will have faced a nationally ranked opponent. The Cardinals have already faced then-No. 3 UW-Eau Claire and then-No. 4 UW-River Falls this season.

• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals come into their two-game conference series against Saint Mary’s sitting at 6-10-1 overall, including a 4-6-1 mark in 11 MIAC contests — leaving BU seventh in the conference standings.

• LAST TIME OUT: Bethel dropped a pair of one-goal games to Concordia last weekend, falling to the Cobbers 3-2 on Friday, before suffering a 2-1 setback the following afternoon.

• BITING YOUR NAILS: With their 3-2 and 2-1 losses to Concordia last weekend, the Cobbers have now played five straight games decided by one goal or less. BU went 0-1-1 against St Scholastica on Feb. 4-5 — losing 2-1 and tying 0-0 — while beating Hamline 2-1 in the second game of their MIAC series on Jan. 29.

• LATE-SEASON SWOON: The Royals enter play this weekend having dropped two straight of five of their last seven (1-5-1). BU has not scored more than two goals in a game since scoring three goals in back-to-back games against Aurora (L, 4-3) on Nov. 6 and St. Catherine (W, 3-2) on Dec. 3. Since that 3-2 win over St. Catherine, the Royals have scored a combined 11 goals in their last 11 contests.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Grace Halvorson has scored a team-high five goals this season, one more than Lindsey Albers and Lexi DeBace. The trio has accounted for 13 of the Royals’ 30 goals. … Emily Roder (3) and McKayla Machlitt (2) are the only other BU players with more than one goal of the year. … Albers recorded her first hat trick of the season against Northland on Oct. 29, and added an assist for a season-high four points.

• ASSISTING THE CAUSE: Megan Johnson owns a team-leading eight assists on the year, followed by Halvorson with five, and Albers and DeBace with four each. BU has gotten at least one assist from 22 different players. … Machitt, Albers and Johnson has all posted two-assist games this season.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Halvorson sits atop the team lead in points with 10 (5 G, 5 A). Johnson is second with nine (1 G, 8 A), with Albers and DeBace sitting tied for third with eight (4 G, 4 A).

• CLUTCH GOALS: Albers has recorded two of BU’s six game-winning goals, with Halvorson, DeBace, Faith Merz, and Brynn Swenson netting the other four.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Bethel has used two goalies this season, led by Mallory Tidona, who has started 15 of the Royals’ 17 games, compiling a 2.48 goals-against-average and a .924 save percentage, while Anna Hanson (3.50 GAA, .900 save %) has appeared in six games, including two starts. … Tidona has made 447 saves, with Hanson stopping 63 of the 65 shots she’s faced.  

• AS A TEAM: Bethel has scored 30 goals — including nine on the power play — and added 49 assists for 79 points through 17 games. … Bethel has scored three or more goals in a game four times — including a season-high six goals in beating Northland 6-1 on Oct. 29.