SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule
2022: 0-1-0 MIAC, 3-1-2 Overall
SAINT JOHN’S JOHNNIES
Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule
2022: 0-0-0 MIAC, 3-0-2 Overall
LIVE ON THE WEB:
Live Stats * Streaming Video
SMU-SJU * LAST MEETING:
Sept. 18, 2021 * Winona, MN
L, 1-0 (ot) * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
Sept. 13, 2022 * Winona, MN
Carleton * L, 3-0
SAINT JOHN’S * LAST ACTION:
Sept. 11, 2022 * Whitewater, WI
UW-Whitewater * W, 3-0
SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:
Sept. 21, 2022 * Winona, MN
Simpson * 5 p.m.
SAINT JOHN’S * UP NEXT:
Sept. 24, 2022 * St. Peter, MN
Gustavus * 3:30 p.m.
SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into Saturday’s road showdown against Saint John’s sitting at 3-1-2 overall, including an 0-1-0 mark in conference play
• LAST ACTION: Saint Mary’s surrendered a pair of goals four minutes apart late in the second half, as Carleton broke open a one-goal game and dealt the Cardinals a 3-0 setback in the teams’ conference opener Tuesday at Ochrymowycz Field.
• NOT THIS TIME: The last three meetings between Saint Mary’s and Saint John’s has gone into overtime, which can not happen this time around due to the regular-season no-overtime rule implemented this year. SMU is 1-1-1 in those last three OT games.
• STREAK SNAPPER: Saint Mary’s 3-0 loss to Carleton last Tuesday snapped the Cardinals’ season-opening five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) — SMU’s longest unbeaten run since rattling off six straight wins during the 1997 season.
• STELLAR START: The Cardinals’ 3-0-2 start was their best since opening the 1986 season 4-0-1, and the third-best start in program history. The 1983 Saint Mary’s team went 13 games without a loss to open the season, going 11-0-2.
• HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE: Saint Mary’s five-goal effort against Martin Luther on Sept. 10 was a season-high, and the most goals scored in a game since netting five against the Knights in last season’s 5-0 victory.
• CLOSE CALLS: Sixteen of the Cardinals’ last 20 games have been decided by one goal or less — including three of SMU’s six games this season.
• OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Jack Hurley (Homewood, Ill.) scored his team-leading third goal of the season, converting his third PK of the year, against Martin Luther on Sept. 10. Cerim Palislamovic (Jacksonville, Fla.), Jacob Clements (Holmen, Wis.), and Rolando Lopez (Berwyn, Ill.) are all tied for second in goals with two each, while Kyle Palmberg (Holmen, Wis.), Santiago Montero (Phoenix, Ariz.), and Nathan Riess (Timnath, Colo.) own SMU’s other three goals.
• CAREER FIRSTS: The Cardinals have had four players net their first collegiate goals this season — Montero tallied his first as a Cardinal against Crown on Sept. 1; Lopez netted his against Rockford on Sept. 4; Palmberg scored his vs. Ripon on Sept. 7; and Nathan Riess (Timnath, Colo.) collected goal No. 1 against Martin Luther on Sept. 10.
• CAREER FIRST, PART II: Palislamovic’s two goals against Martin Luther on Sept. 10 marked the first time in his collegiate career that the sophomore has scored two goals in a game.
• PLENTY OF PKs: The Cardinals are 4-for-5 in penalty kicks this season. Hurley has accounted for three of SMU’s four PK goals, while Palislamovic owns the other. … Saint Mary’s two PK goals against Martin Luther on Sept. 10 are the most in a game since Eli Szymanski scored two penalty-kick goals against Edgewood on Sept. 9, 2021. … Saint Mary’s has attempted five penalty kicks in its first six games — one more than its total from all of last year. The last time the Cardinals scored more than four PKs in a season was 2007, when they went 7-for-8.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Daniel Sessler (Brookfield, Ill.) has started all six games in goal for the Cardinals, compiling a 1.47 goals-against-average and a .795 save percentage. The junior has made 31 saves in his six starts — including a season-high seven saves against both Aurora and Ripon.
• AS A TEAM: The Cardinals have scored 13 goals in six games, while attempting 80 shots, including 40 on goal. On the flip side, SMU’s opponents have attempted 83 shots, with 44 find the mark. … The Cardinals hold a 9-3 scoring edge in the game’s opening half, while being outscored 7-4 in the second half.
• STREAKING: With their 2-1 victory over Crown on Sept. 1, the Cardinals improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven season-openers, the lone blemish a 3-0 loss to the University of Dubuque a year ago, and a 1-1 tie with St. Olaf during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
• TOTAL DOMINANCE: With their 5-2 win on Sept. 10, the Cardinals are now a perfect 7-0-0 all-time against Martin Luther, and have outscored the Knights 26-2 in those seven meetings.
• NO MATCH FOR SMU: With their season-opening, 2-1 win over Crown on Sept. 1, SMU improved to 6-1-1 all-time against the Polars — including a 5-0-1 mark in the teams’ last six meetings.
• NEW THIS YEAR: The NCAA implemented a new rule beginning with the 2022 that will eliminate all overtimes in regular-season games. Games that are deadlocked following the scheduled 90 minute will go in the books as ties. Once in post-season, if a game is tied following regulation, there will be two, 10-minute overtime periods — with no golden goal — followed by a shootout if the game is still tied.
SAINT JOHN’S JOHNNIES SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Johnnies head into their first conference game of the season sitting at 3-0-2 overall.
• LAST TIME OUT: Saint John’s ran its season-opening unbeaten streak to five, scoring two goals in the game’s first 17 minutes and rolling to a 3-0 nonconference win over UW-Whitewater last Sunday in Whitewater, Wis.
• ROAD WARRIORS: All five of the Johnnies’ games this season have been played on their road — including a pair of contests against Cal Lutheran and UC-Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, Calif. Saturday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s is the home opener for SJU.
• THROWING UP ZEROS: All three of the Johnnies’ wins this season have come via shutout. SJU blanked UM-Morris 3-0 to open the season, and added a 2-0 win over UC-Santa Cruz and a 3-0 victory over UW-Whitewater.
• SETTING A TREND: Saint John’s has not won back-to-back games this season, answering each of its first two wins with a 1-1 tie. SJU opened the year by beating UM-Morris, and followed it up with a 1-1 tie against Cal Lutheran. The Johnnies then added a 2-0 win over UC-Santa Cruz, before battling UW-Platteville to a 1-1 stalemate.
• FIND THE BACK OF THE NET: Matt D. Anderson has accounted for a team-leading three of the Johnnies’ 10 goals, one more than Kaidan Popp. Kevin Stark-Haws, Christian Rodriguez, Cooper Nowak, Cavin Allen, and Noah Hermanson have all scored one goal.
• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Carter Hermanson has amassed a team-leading five assists, followed by Stark-Haws with three and Rodriguez with two.
• POINT PRODUCTION: Anderson is the team’s points leader with six, one more than both Stark-Haws and Hermanson, with Popp and Rodriguez sitting at four points each.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: The Johnnies have used two goalkeepers through their first five games. Evan Siefken has started four of SJU’s five contests, compiling a 0.50 goals-against-average and .895 save percentage. Jake Swanson, meanwhile, has started one game, stopping both shots he faced in blanking UM-Morris on Sept. 1. … Siefken has stopped 17 of the 19 shots he’s faced and owns a pair of shutouts.
• BY THE NUMBERS: The Johnnies have outscored their first five opponents 10-2 — including 3-1 in the first half and 7-1 after the halftime break. … SJU holds a 69-50 edge in shots attempted and a 29-24 advantage in shots on goal. … Saint John’s has scored a season-high three goals in a game twice — against both UM-Morris and UW-Whitewater — and recorded a season-best five assists in both of those contests.
