SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 1-1-0 MIAC, 4-2-0 Overall

AUGSBURG AUGGIES

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2023-24: 2-0-0 MIAC, 3-2-0 Overall

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FRI – SMU v. AUG: Stats * Video

SAT – SMU at AUG: Stats * Video

MIAC: WH Home *  Standings * Schedule

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SMU-AUG * A YEAR AGO:

W, 4-2; L, 3-2 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Nov. 10-11, 2023

Hamline * W, 4-2; L, 2-1 (ot)

AUGSBURG * LAST ACTION:

Nov. 10-11, 2023

St. Catherine * W, 7-1; W, 4-3 (ot)

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Nov. 21, 2023 * Stevens Pt., WI

UW-Stevens Point * 7 p.m.

AUGSBURG * UP NEXT: 

Dec. 1, 2023 * Minneapolis, MN

St. Olaf * 7 p.m.

Dec. 2, 2023 * Northfield, MN

St. Olaf * 3 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into this weekend’s two-game MIAC series against Augsburg sitting at 4-2-0 overall, including a 1-1-0 showing through the first two games of the conference season.

• LAST ACTION: Saint Mary’s got goals from four different players, as the Cardinals opening their MIAC schedule with a 4-2 win over Hamline last Friday in St. Paul, Minn., only to drop the rematch, falling to the Pipers 2-1 in overtime the following afternoon at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.

• LONG TIME COMING: With their 2-1 win over seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 3, Saint Mary’s improved to 3-0-0, marking the first time SMU had opened the season with back-to-back-to-back victories since Marian (5-0), St. Norbert (2-1), and UW-Eau Claire (4-1) to kick off the 2010-11 campaign.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Last Saturday’s game against Hamline was the fourth home game of the season for the Cardinals, who are 3-1-0 at home, while going 1-1-0 on the road — beating Hamline 4-2 last Saturday and falling to #4 UW-River Falls 3-1 on Nov. 4.

• FACING NATION’S BEST: The Cardinals have faced two nationally ranked teams this season, beating seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire 2-1 on Nov. 3, before falling to #4 UW-River Falls the following day.

• PUTTING UP BIG. NUMBERS: SMU’s eight goals in its 8-0 win over Lake Forest on Oct. 28 were the most since blanking Lawrence 8-0 on Dec. 10, 2022. … The Cardinals’ 15 combined goals in sweeping Lake Forest last weekend were the most since SMU swept Bethel 11-0 and 8-3 on Jan. 4-5, 2002. … SMU has outscored its first four opponents 18-4 — including 17-1 in its three wins.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Reese Heitzman (Hermantown, Minn.) scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season in last Friday’s 4-2 win over Hamline and has now scored a goal in four of the team’s first six games. … Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.) and Mikayla Vasilevich (Chicago, Ill.) are second to Heitzman with three goals each, followed by Kennedy Kraus (Kasson, Minn.) and Maggie Albers (Maple Grove, Minn.) with two goals each.

• FIRST AS A CARDINAL: Saint Mary’s has already had six players — Heitzman, Vasilevich, Albers, Ella Hennes (Ramsey, Minn.), Celia Midtbo (Minneapolis, Minn.), and Sophie Paduano (Westby, Wis.) — net their first goals as Cardinals this season.

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Cardinals opened the season with 10 different players scoring their first 10 goals. Albers, Hennes Urlaub, Kraus, Taverie Sherner (Maple Grove, Minn.), Ellie Hegdahl (Brookings, S.D.), and Jordy Wyant (Winnipeg, Manitoba) accounted for SMU’s seven goals in its 7-0 win on Oct. 27, while Paduano, Vasilevich, and Heitzman netted SMU’s first three goals in the Cardinals’ 8-0 win vs. the Foresters the following afternoon. … SMU’s five goals in its 4-2 win and 2-1 loss to Hamline also came from five different players … The Cardinals had eight different players score goals in their 8-0 win over Lawrence last season.

• TOSSING THE HAT: Heitzman’s hat trick against Lake Forest on Oct. 28 — the first of her collegiate career — marked the second straight season in which SMU boasted a player with three goals in a game. Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) recorded her first collegiate hat trick and her first career five-point game in SMU’s 5-0 win over St. Catherine on Jan. 20, 2023.

• LENDING A HAND: Urlaub, who shared the team lead in assists with seven a year ago, has posted a team-best six helpers already this season, one more than Kenzie Meland (), and three up on Heitzman, Sherner, and Skye Norgren (Fergus Falls, Minn.). Ten other Cardinals have recorded at least one assist through four games. 

• POINT PRODUCERS: Heitzman and Urlaub sit atop the team’s points race with nine points apiece, followed by Meland with five, Sherner with four, and Vasilevich, Albers, Kraus, Midtbo, Paduano, and Norgren with three each. … Heitzman has recorded at least one point in all six games this season. … 

• BIG NIGHTS: Heitzman and Vasilevich each recorded their first multiple-goal games against Lake Forest last Saturday, with Heitzman scoring three times and Vasilevich twice. … Urlaub delivered a goal and three assists in SMU’s 8-0 win over Lake Forest on Oct. 28. The three assists and four points matched her career high.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES:Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.) has started all six games in goal for the Cardinals, compiling a 1.33 goals-against-average and a .947 save percentage. … Rimstad stopped all 24 shots she faced in SMU’s season-opening 7-0, 8-0 victories over Lake Forest on Oct. 27-28 — kicking out 10 shots in Game 1 and 14 more in Game 2. … Rimstad — who came within 13 seconds of a third straight shutout in SMU’s 2-1 win over #7 UW-Eau Claire — now owns four shutouts through her first 18 games as a Cardinal. … Rimstad, who recorded 252 saves last season, has stopped 144 of the 152 shots she’s faced this season — including a career-high 42 saves in last SMU’s 3-1 loss to #4 UW-River Falls on Nov. 4.

• THROWING UP ZEROS: The Cardinals had their season-opening shutout streak snapped at 179:47 minutes, when UW-Eau Claire scored with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation in the Cardinals’ 2-1 win over the seventh-ranked Blugolds last Friday.

• THROWING UP ZEROS II: SMU’s 7-0 and 8-0 wins over Lake Forest on Oct. 27-28 marked the second straight season in which the Cardinals posted back-to-back shutouts, having blanked Lawrence 3-0 and 8-0 on Dec. 9-10, 2022

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: SMU has outshot its opponents 161-152 — 57-51 in the first period, 49-48 in the second, and 54-52 in the third. … The Cardinals have scored 10 of their 23 goals in the second period, adding six first-period goals and seven in the game’s final stanza. … Saint Mary’s is 2-for-13 on the power play (15.4 %), while killing off 20 of its opponents 21 PP opportunities (95.2 %). … SMU posted season-highs in virtually every offensive category in its season-opening series against Lake Forest,. The Cardinals set season-bests for goals (8), assists (13), and points (21) in their 8-0 win over the Foresters on Oct. 28, while delivering a season-high 36 shots on goal against the Foresters the previous evening.

AUGSBURG SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Augsburg heads into its two-game weekend series against Saint Mary’s sitting at 3-2-0 overall, including back-to-back wins over St. Catherine last weekend to kick off the MIAC schedule.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Auggies picked up a pair of conference wins over St. Catherine last weekend, erupting for seven goals — including a second-period hat trick by Emily Cronkhite — in cruising to a 7-1 win last Friday in St. Paul, Minn., before getting the overtime game-winner from Ella Olson 2:26 into overtime in the Auggies’ sweep clinching 4-3 win the following afternoon in Minneapolis, Minn.

• HOME NOT-SO-SWEET HOME: Augsburg heads into this weekend’s games against Saint Mary’s having won just once in three home contests (1-2-0). The Auggies are unbeaten in their two games away from Ed Saugestad Arena this season.

• A WIN TO REMEMBER: The Auggies’ 4-3 win over St. Catherine last Saturday was head coach Michelle McAteer’s 150th collegiate coaching win. Only the second head coach in the 29-year history of the Augsburg women's hockey program, McAteer now has a 150-137-36 record in 14 years on the Auggie bench. Jill Pohtilla compiled a 171-177-30 record in the first 15 years of the program (1995-2010).

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Fueled by her hat trick against St. Catherine last Friday, Cronkhite moved into a tie for the team lead in goals (4) with Olson. Emily Schoeberl has scored three times, while Nora Stepan and Claire Jenkins Coffman own a pair of tallies. Malia Schubert, Elizabeth Fagerlind Tenley Stewart, Kennedy Stein, Kiley Wahlin, and Sydney Rydel have accounted for Augsburg’s other six goals. … Cronkhite’s first collegiate hat trick against St. Catherine last weekend are a single-game season high.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Cronkhite and Olson share the team lead in assists with four, one more than Schubert and Grace Bonnell. Schoeberl, Jenkins Coffman, Stepan, and Fagerlind have all chipped in two helpers through five games. … Cronkhite has recorded two, two-assist games this season, while Bonnell, Schubert, and Olson have also posted two-assist games.

• POINT PRODUCERS: With their four goals and four assists, Cronkhite and Olson sit atop the Auggies’ points race with eight. Schoeberl is third on the team with five points, one more than Schubert, Jenkins Coffman, and Stepan. … Along with her three goals, Cronkhite also picked up two assists against St. Catherine last Friday a season-high five points.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Augsburg has used two different goalies through five games, led by Chloe Stockinger, who has compiled a 2.00 goals-against-average and .907 save percentage in five starts. Arissa Paaske owns Augsburg’s other start, boasting a 4.18 GAA and .826 save percentage. … Stockinger has stopped 78 of the 86 shots she’s faced, and made a season-high 31 saves against UW-River Falls on Oct. 28.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Augsburg has outshot its first five opponents 155-110, including 44-38 in the first period, 57-40 in the second, and 53-32 in the third. The Auggies were outshot 2-1 in their one overtime game. … Six of Augsburg’s 21 goals have come on the power-play (23.1 %), while the Auggies have allowed 7 PP goals on 27 chances. Augsburg has also scored two shorthanded tallies, while giving up one. … Augsburg posted season-highs in goals (8), assists (11), points (19), and shots on goal (47) in an 8-1 win over UW-Superior on Nov. 4. The Auggies matched that 11-assist effort against St. Catherine last Friday. On the flip side, Augsburg surrendered season-highs in goals (5), assists (6), and points (11) in a 5-1 loss to No. 1-ranked Gustavus on Oct. 27.