SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

(6-3-1 MIAC, 9-7-1 OVERALL)

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ST. CATHERINE WILDCATS

(1-9-0 MIAC, 5-12-1 OVERALL)

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LAST MEETING:

Nov. 22, 2019 * W, 3-1

Nov. 22, 2019 * L, 4-1

Series History

SAINT MARY'S LAST ACTION:

Jan. 28, 2022 * Gustavus * T, 1-1

Jan. 29, 2022 * Gustavus * L, 5-0

ST. CATHERINE LAST ACTION: 

Jan. 28, 2022 * St. Ben’s * L, 4-3

Jan. 29, 2022 * St. Ben’s * L, 4-3

SAINT MARY'S UP NEXT:

Feb. 5, 2022 * St. Kate’s * 2:00

SMU Ice Arena, Winona, MN

ST. CATHERINE UP NEXT: 

Feb. 5, 2022 * Saint Mary’s * 2:00

SMU Ice Arena, Winona, MN

• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into this weekend’s conference series against St. Catherine  boasting a 9-7-1 overall record, including a 6-3-1 mark in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals went 0-1-1 in its two-game series against league-leading Gustavus last weekend. Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) made 55 saves and Kas Kingston (Black Diamond, Alberta) scored a game-tying second-period goal, as the Cardinals battled Gustavus to a 1-1 draw at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena. GAC dealt Saint Mary’s a 5-0 setback in the teams’ rematch the following afternoon in St. Peter, Minn.

ª FIT TO BE TIED: With last Friday’s 1-1 stalemate with Gustavus, the Cardinals have now played the Gusties to a draw at least once in each of the last four seasons.

• WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: With their 3-2 win over Hamline on Jan. 21, seven of the Cardinals’ nine wins this season have been decided by two goals or less. All told, eight of SMU’s 16 games have been decided by two goals or less.

• ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Friday’s game against St. Catherine is the sixth road game in the last eight contests for the Cardinals, who are 5-4-0 on the road this season. SMU is sitting at 4-3-1 on its own ice this season.

• SCORE GOALS, WIN GAMES: Saint Mary’s has scored 24 goals in its nine 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 three goals in their seven losses.

• SHARING THE WEALTH: The Cardinals’ five goals in their last four conference games have come from five different players. Kingston netted SMU’s goal against Gustavus on Friday, while Kennedy Kraus (Kasson, Minn.) Abigail Painovich (Hinckley, Minn.), Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.), and Ellie Hegdahl (Brookings, S.D.) scored  Saint Mary’s four goals against Hamline last weekend.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Kingston, Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.), Jenna Kurkowski (North Branch, Minn.), and Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) all share the team lead with three goals each. Hegdahl, Wolf, Nina Langley (Chaska, Minn.), Anna Braun (Mantorville, Minn.), and Morgan Leib (Farmington Heights, Minn.) all own two goals.

• NEW DAY, NEW 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, Pierpont, Kingston, Langley, Urlaub, Polzin, Leib, Kurkowski, and Braun.

• 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: The Cardinals have five players who share the team lead in assists with three each — Urlaub, Braun, Wolf, Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), and Avrey Simonson (Waupaca, Wis.). The Cardinals have got at least one assist from 18 different players.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Urlaub (3 G, 3 A), Braun (2 G, 3 A) leads the team with six points, one more than both Wolf (2 G, 3 A) and Braun (2 G, 3 A). Five others — Kingston (3 G, 1 A), Kurkowski (3 G, 1 A), Polzin (3 G, 1 A), Sheridan (1 G, 3 A), and Simonson (1 G, 3 A) are all sitting with four points.

• 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 Urlaub, Langley, Kingston, Pierpont, and Wolf own Saint Mary’s other five 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: Ziakas and Jordan Keeley (St. James, Minn.) have shared the goaltending duties this season. Ziakas enters this weekend’s games against St. Catherine with a 2.41 goals-against-average and .914 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 318 saves, with Keeley close behind with 128 … Ziakas stopped all 12 shots she faced against Johnson & Wales en route to her first shutout of the season and fourth shutout of her collegiate career. 

• FIRST-GOAL ADVANTAGE: The team that has scored first has won 15 of the Cardinals’ 17 games this season — the lone exceptions, SMU’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over Hamline on Jan. 21 and their 1-1 tie against Gustavus on Jan. 28.

• 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 Wildcats head into their two-game conference series against Saint Mary’s sitting at 5-9-1 overall, while managing just one win in 10 conference contests.

• LAST TIME OUT: St. Catherine dropped both games of its MIAC series against Saint Benedict last week — both by 4-3 decisions. SCU has now lost to Saint Benedict three times this season, having also dropped a … you guessed it, 4-3 decision … on Jan. 14.

• DÉJÀ VU: St. Catherine fell behind 4-1 in both of its games against Saint Benedict last weekend, and both times the Wildcats would score two, third-period goals, only to have their rally fall one goal short.

• JANUARY SWOON: SCU’s back-to-back 4-3 losses to Saint Benedict last weekend pushed the Wildcats’ losing streak to five straight, while its winless streak is at seven (0-6-1). SCU has not won since beating Bethel 2-1 in overtime on Dec. 4.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Sophie Gorski has been a goal-scoring machine for the Wildcats, netting a team-high 10 goals, five more than Laura Denchfield and Marie Reimer, who are tied for second with five goals each. … Gorski scored three goals in the Wildcats’ two games against Saint Benedict last week — including two in last Saturday’s 4-3 loss. The two-goal game was her second of the season.

• LENDING A HAND: Kaitlyn Blair has recorded a team-best nine assists in 17 games, followed by Veronica Gruett with seven, and Denchfield, Reimer, Lindsey Hays, and Lauren Henriksen with five assists each. … Samantha Lackmann recorded a season-high three assists against Lawrence on Nov. 5.

• POINTS RACE: The Wildcats boast four players with 10 or more points this season, led by Gorski with 13 (10 G, 3 A). Blair is second with 11 (2 G, 9 A), with Denchfield (5 G, 5 A) and Reimer (5 G, 5 A) both owning 10 points.

• NETTING THE GAME-WINNER: Gorski leads the team with two game-winning goals, while Denchfield, Henriksen, and Lindsey Hays own the other three.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: St. Catherine has used three different goalies this season. Abby Severson has appeared in 13 games (473:37 minutes), compiling a 3.04 goals-against-average and .904 save percentage. Elizabeth Kubicek owns a 3.00 GAA and .893 save percentage in 12 appearances (460:19), and Karly Schmidt sports a 1.95 GAA and .907 save percentage in three games (154:10). … Severson leads the way with 226 saves, followed by Kubicek with 192 and Schmidt with 49.

• AS A TEAM: St. Catherine has scored 39 goals and added 59 assists in 18 games, including seven power-play goals and one short-handed tally. … The Wildcats have scored three or more goals in eight of their 18 contests — including a season-high six-goal effort in blanking Lawrence 6-0 on Nov. 5.