• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into post-season play boasting a 12-9-2 overall record, including a 9-5-2 mark in conference play. The Cardinals’ 9-5-2 showing in conference play earned them the No. 3 seed in the MIAC Playoffs, and the home date against Saint Benedict.
• MIAC HISTORY: Saint Mary’s is making its 10th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (in its current format) and their first since 2020. The Cardinals have also appeared in the conference’s post-season tournament in 2019, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004.
• RACKING UP THE W’s: The Cardinals 12 wins this season are the most since the 2003-04 season, when Saint Mary’s finished 15-9-2, and the sixth-most victories in program history.
• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals closed out the regular season with a loss and a tie against Bethel last weekend. SMU surrendered back-to-back goals — one midway through the third period and the other 17 seconds into overtime — in falling to Bethel 4-3 last in Blaine, Minn., before getting a 19-save shutout from Jordan Keeley (St. James, Minn.) in a 0-0 tie the following afternoon at the SMU Ice Arena.
• BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Last Saturday’s 0-0 tie against Bethel marked the second straight season in which the Cardinals have played to a scoreless draw. SMU and Concordia played 65 minutes without a goal being scored on Nov. 6, 2021. Saint Mary’s has now played to a 0-0 tie four times in program history — twice coming against Concordia, with the other two against Bethel and St. Thomas.
• WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: With their 4-3 overtime loss and 0-0 OT tie against Bethe last weekend — 14 of SMU’s 23 games have been decided by two goals or less, including 10 of their 12 wins.
• HOME & ROAD ICE ADVANTAGE: The Cardinals closed out the regular season with a 7-4-0 record on the road, while sitting at 5-5-2 at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.
• 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 seven goals in their nine losses. Friday’s 4-3 setback marked the first time this season SMU had scored more than one goal in a loss all year.
• SHARING THE WEALTH: The Cardinals’ eight goals in their last four games have come from eight different players. Jordan Modjeski (South Lyon, Mich.), Morgan Leib (Farmington Hills, Mich.), and Anna Braun (Mantorville, Minn.) netted SMU’s three goals vs. Bethel Friday, while Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.), Anne Carmean (Spring Lake Park, Minn.), Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), Kas Kingston (Black Diamond, Alberta), and Ellie Hegdahl (Brookings, S.D.) all found the back of the net against Augsburg last weekend.
• LIGHTING THE LAMP: With her goal against Bethel last Friday, Leib moved into a tie for the team lead with Kingston and Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.), one more than Braun, Wolf, Hegdahl, Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.), and Jenna Kurkowski (North Branch, 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 Langley, Braun, Hegdahl, Kingston, Urlaub, Polzin, Leib, Kurkowski, and Katie Pierpont (Holt, Mich.).
• 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 weekend, while six other Cardinals — Modjeski, Urlaub, Wolf, Braun, Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), and Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.) — have three assists each. … The Cardinals have gotten at least one assist from 19 different players.
• POINT PRODUCERS: Urlaub, Kingston, Wolf, Braun, and Leib all share the team lead in points with six, followed by Polzin, 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 Saturday’s rematch against Bethel with a 2.33 goals-against-average and .923 save percentage, while Keeley has compiled a 2.46 GAA and .913 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 446 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 on Feb. 4 for shutout No. 2 of the year. Ziakas now owns five shutouts in her Cardinal career.
• SHUTTING THEM OUT II: Keeley’s 19 save effort in SMU’s 0-0 tie against Bethel last Friday was her first shutout of the season — and the third of her collegiate career, having posteed a pair of shutouts during her freshman season.
• FIRST-GOAL ADVANTAGE: The team that has scored first has won 18 of the Cardinals’ 22 games this season — the lone exceptions, SMU’s come-from-behind wins over Hamline (3-2) and Augsburg (2-1), its 4-3 OT loss to Bethel, and its 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.
• BRING OUT THE BROOMS: Saint Mary’s 3-1, 2-1 wins over Augsburg on Feb. 11-12 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).
• 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.
