SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

(7-3-1 MIAC, 10-7-1 OVERALL)

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ST. CATHERINE WILDCATS

(1-10-0 MIAC, 5-13-1 OVERALL)

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LAST NIGHT:

Feb. 4, 2022

W, 1-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY'S UP NEXT:

Feb. 11, 2022 * Augsburg * 7:00

SMU Ice Arena * Winona, MN

Feb. 12, 2022 * Augsburg * 2:00

Ed Saugestad Arena * Minneapolis, MN

ST. CATHERINE UP NEXT: 

Feb. 11, 2022 * St. Scholastica * 7:00

Mars Lakeville Arena * Duluth, MN

Feb. 12, 2022 * St. Scholastica * 2:00

Drake Arena * St. Paul, MN

• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into the second game of their conference series against St. Catherine  boasting a 10-7-1 overall record, including a 7-3-1 mark in conference play.

• LAST NIGHT: Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) scored the game’s only goal five minutes into the first period and Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) stopped all 27 shots she faced as the duo led SMU to a 1-0 win over St. Catherine Friday evening at Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

• WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: With their 1-0 win over St. Catherine Friday night, eight of the Cardinals’ 10 wins this season have been decided by two goals or less. All told, nine of SMU’s 18 games have been decided by two goals or less.

• ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Friday’s game against St. Catherine was the sixth road game in the last eight contests for the Cardinals, who are 6-4-0 on the road this season. SMU is sitting at 4-3-1 on its own ice this season.

• ONE-GOAL FRIDAYS: The Cardinals have now score one goal in each of their last two Friday games — going 1-0-1. SMU battled league-leading and nationally ranked Gustavus to a 1-1 draw last Friday, before blanking St. Catherine 1-0 last night.

• SCORE GOALS, WIN GAMES: Saint Mary’s has scored 25 goals in its 10 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’ six goals in their last five conference games have come from six different players. Polzin scored SMU’s lone goal vs. St. Catherine Friday; Kas Kingston (Black Diamond, Alberta) scored the Cardinals’ goal in their two game series against Gustavus on Jan. 28-29; and 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 on Jan. 21-22.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Polzin’s goal against St. Catherine Friday night was her team-leading fourth of the season, one more than Kingston, Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.), and Jenna Kurkowski (North Branch, Minn.). 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 six players who share the team lead in assists with three each — Urlaub, Braun, Wolf, Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.), Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.), and Avrey Simonson (Waupaca, Wis.). The Cardinals have got at least one assist from 18 different players.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Urlaub (3 G, 3 A) leads the team with six points, followed by Braun (2 G, 3 A), Wolf (2 G, 3 A) and Polzin (4 G, 1 A). Four others — Kingston (3 G, 1 A), Kurkowski (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, Polzin, 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 Saturday’s game against St. Catherine with a 2.23 goals-against-average and .920 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 347 saves, with Keeley close behind with 128.

• 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 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 16 of the Cardinals’ 18 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.

• 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 Wildcats head into the second game of their conference series against Saint Mary’s sitting at 5-10-1 overall, while managing just one win in 11 conference contests.

• LAST NIGHT: St. Catherine goalie Elizabeth Kubicek stopped 20 of the 21 shots she faced, but it was not enough, as the Wildcats dropped a 1-0 decision to Saint Mary’s Friday evening at Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

• 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 and 1-0 setback against Saint Mary’s on Friday pushed the Wildcats’ losing streak to six straight, while its winless streak is at eight (0-7-1). 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. Kubicek owns a 2.77 GAA and .898 save percentage in 13 appearances (519:21), 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 212 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.