SAINT MARY'S CARDINALS 

(13-9-2 OVERALL)

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HAMLINE PIPERS

(14-9-0 OVERALL)

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?FIRST ROUND

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022

No. 8 Concordia 1, No. 9 St. Catherine 0 | Recap

No. 7 Bethel 3, No. 10 St. Olaf 1 * Recap

QUARTERFINALS

Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022

No. 1 Gustavus 5, No. 8 Concordia 1 | Recap

No. 3 Saint Mary's 5, No. 6 Saint Benedict 3 | Recap

No. 4 St. Scholastica 6, No. 5 Augsburg 3 | Recap

No. 3 Hamline 8, No. 7 Bethel 0 | Recap

SEMIFINALS

Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2022

No. 4 St. Scholastica at No. 1 Gustavus,  7 p.m.

No. 3 Saint Mary's at No. 2 Hamline, 7 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, Mar. 5, 2022

High-seed Host, TBA

EARLIER THIS YEAR:

Jan. 21-22, 2022

W, 3-2 * L, 4-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY'S LAST ACTION:

Feb. 26, 2022

v. Saint Benedict * W, 5-3

HAMLINE LAST ACTION:

Feb. 26, 2022

v. Bethel * W, 8-0

• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into MIAC Playoff semifinal against Hamline boasting a 13-9-2 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.

• IN THE QUARTERS: Saint Mary’s erupted for a season-high five goals — including two in each of the final two periods — in rolling past Saint Benedict last Saturday at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.

• MIAC HISTORY: Saint Mary’s is making its 10th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs 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 13 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.

• WINNING THE CLOSE ONES: With their 5-3 win over Saint Benedict last Saturday, 15 of SMU’s 24 games have been decided by two goals or less, including 11 of their 13 wins.

• HOME & ROAD ICE ADVANTAGE: The Cardinals closed out the regular season with a 7-4-0 record on the road, while sitting at 6-5-2 at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.

• SCORE GOALS, WIN GAMES: Saint Mary’s has scored 35 goals in its 13 wins this season — including three games with four or more goals. On the flip side, 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.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: The Cardinals have six players who share the team lead with four goals — Morgan Leib (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Anna Braun (Mantorville, Minn.), Kas Kingston (Black Diamond, Alberta), Morgan Leib (Burnsville, Minn.), Elie Hegdahl (), and Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.). Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) and Jenna Kurkowski are one back with three goals each.

• 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 fifth assist against Saint Benedict last Saturday, while Braun and Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.) are second with four helpers.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Braun and Urlaub share the top two spots in the Cardinal points race — sitting with eight and seven points, respectively — with Kingston, Leib, Wolf, and Simonson all sitting with six points.

• THE GAME-WINNER: Leib, Kingston and Kurkowski have each netted two game-winning goals, with Carmean, Urlaub, Langley, Pierpont, Polzin, Hegdahl, and Wolf accounting for Saint Mary’s other seven game-winners this season.

• MULTIPLE-POINTS: Saint Mary’s had two players — Braun and Kennedy Kraus (Kasson, Minn.) — finish with two points (1 G, 1 A) in SMU’s 5-3 win over Saint Benedict last Saturday. It was Braun’s second collegiate multiple-point game, and the first of her career for Kraus. … 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 Carmean scored two goals and added an assist against Saint Benedict on March 13, 2021. … Simonson (2 A), Hegdahl, and Kingston (1 G, 1 A) have also posted their first career multiple-point games this season.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) and Jordan Keeley (St. James, Minn.) have shared the goaltending duties this season. Ziakas enters Wednesday’s showdown against Hamline with a 2.28 goals-against-average and .919 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 on Jan. 5, and added a 29-save effort in blanking St. Catherine on Feb. 4. 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 posted a pair of shutouts during her freshman season.

• FIRST-GOAL ADVANTAGE: The team that has scored first has won 19 of the Cardinals’ 23 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.

• BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: The Cardinals’ 0-0 tie against Bethel in the teams’ regular-season finale on Feb. 19 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.

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.

• FOR RECORD: The Pipers enter Wednesday’s MIAC Playoff semifinal against Saint Mary’s boasting a 14-9-0 overall record, including an 11-5-0 showing in 16 conference regular-season games.

• IN THE QUARTERS: The Pipers’ offense was shifted into high gear from start-to-finish in their post-season opener against Bethel last Saturday, as HU scored three goals in the first, two I the second, and three more in the third in rolling to an 8-0 victory over the Royals at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minn.

• MIAC HISTORY: Hamline is making its seventh overall appearance in the MIAC Playoffs — including each of the last five years. The Pipers' lone MIAC Playoff tile occurred in 2018, when HU beat Gustavus 4-1 in the title game. Hamline went on to beat UW-Eau Claire 3-2 in the opening game of the NCAA Division III National Tournament, before falling to Norwich 5-1 in the semifinals. HU beat Plattsburgh State 5-4 in overtime in the third-place game.

• COMING IN HOT: Hamline takes the ice against Saint Mary’s Wednesday having won six of their last eight, the lone losses, a 4-2 loss to regular-season champion Gustavus on Feb. 12 and a 2-1 regular season-ending setback to Concordia on Feb. 19. 

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s is the second straight post-season home game for the Pipers, who boast an 8-4-0 record on their home ice, while going 6-5-0 away from TRIA Rink.

• CLOSE CALLS: Seven of Hamline’s nine losses this season have been by two goals or less — including three games decided by 3-2 decisions and two more 2-1 setbacks.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Sophie Rausch and Molly Garin have been the offensive leaders for the Pipers, scoring 19 and 12 goals, respectively. … Rausch has scored at least once in 13 of the team’s 23 games — including four two-goal efforts and a team-high three-goal showing against St. Scholastica on Dec. 3. … Amanda Nylander is third on the team with eight goals, followed by Cheyenne Abear, Jordan Hansen, and Nikki Olund with seven each.

• LENDING A HAND: Abear is the team-leader in assists with 13, one more than Rausch, while Rae Robert and Garin have chipped in nine and eight helpers, respectively. … Twenty different players have recorded at least one of HU’s 93 assists.

• POINT PRODUCERS: The Pipers boast seven players who have recorded 10 or more points this season — led by Rausch with 31, and Abear and Garin with 20 each. Hansen (14), Nylander (13), Olund (11) and Robert (10) have also racked up 10 or more points this season.

• ROYAL PAINS: Rausch and Hannah Dorsey have each posted four-point performances this season — both against Bethel. Dorsey picked up four assists against the Royals on Jan. 28, while Rausch scored two goals and added a pair of helpers in last Saturday’s 8-0 HU victory.

• COMING UP BIG: Rausch and Hansen have accounted for seven of the team’s 16 game-winning goals, with Rausch netted four game-winners and Hansen added three. Garin, Abear, Olund, Robert, Emme Nelson, Michaela Arnold Sydney Lemke, and Nylander have scored the other seven GW goals.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: McKenna Hulslander and Ava Bailey have shared the goaltending duties this season. Hulslander has compiled a team-leading 1.55 goals-against-average and .949 save percentage in 15 starts and Bailey owns a 2.64 GAA and .899 save percentage in eight starts. … Hulslander has recorded 431 saves, with Bailey adding 186. … Hulslander has stopped 30 or more shots in a game five times — including a season-high 42 saves twice.

• AS A TEAM: The Pipers have scored 77 goals and added 93 assists for 170 points in 23 games, and have netted four or more goals in a game 10 times — including six goals in a 6-0 win over St. Catherine on Nov. 20, and seven- and eight-goal showings against Bethel in 7-0 and 8-0 victories on Jan. 28 and Feb. 10. On the flip side, HU has surrendered four or more goals in a game four times — including a season-high five goals in losses to Adrian (5-0) and Augsburg (5-3).