SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 1-7-1 Overall

LAWRENCE VIKINGS

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2023-24: 3-4-1 Overall

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SMU-LAWRENCE * A YEAR AGO:

Nov. 22, 2022 * Jan. 3, 2023

W, 3-1; W, 6-3 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Nov. 17-18, 2023

Augsburg * L, 6-0; L, 4-1

LAWRENCE * LAST ACTION:

Nov. 17-18, 2023

Concordia-WI * W, 8-0; L, 4-1

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Dec. 1, 2023 * St. Peter, MN

Gustavus * 7 p.m.

Dec. 2, 2023 * Winona, MN

Gustavus * 7:05 p.m.

LAWRENCE * UP NEXT: 

Nov. 25, 2023 * Appleton, WI

Buffalo State * 3:30 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s steps out of conference play for Tuesday’s home match-up against Lawrence sitting at 1-7-0 overall, including sporting a 1-3-0 record after its first four MIAC contests.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals offense struggled to gain any traction in their two-game conference series against Augsburg last weekend, managing just one goal in dropping 6-0 and 4-1 decisions to the Auggies.

• HOME SWEET HOME: After playing just two of their first eight games at home, the Cardinals are in the midst of playing seven of eight contests on their home sheet. … Following Tuesday’s nonconference matchup against Lawrence and a Dec. 1 trip to Gustavus, Saint Mary’s will rattle off five consecutive home games — Gustavus (Dec. 2), the University of Dubuque (Dec. 8), Northland (Jan. 5), UW-Eau Claire (Jan. 6), and St. Olaf (Jan. 6). … SMU is sitting at 1-1-0 at home this season, while going 0-6-0 way from the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.) leads the Cardinals in goals with three, while Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.) and Colin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) have each netted a pair of goals. Noah Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Clay Allen (Anchorage, Alaska), Cooper Smyl (Fairfield, Calif.) have accounted for SMU’s other three goals. … Winter netted SMU’s first goal of the season at 3:13 of the first period in SMU’s 6-3 loss to MSOE on Oct. 28.

• FIRST COLLEGIATE GOAL: SMU boasts three players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season. Allen’s goal against MSOE on Oct. 28 was the first of his collegiate career; Smyl’s tally against UW-Superior was his first in a Cardinal uniform; and Kiemel’s goal vs. Augsburg last Saturday was his first as a Cardinal … Saint Mary’s had six players who scored their first goals in a Cardinal uniform a year ago.

• LENDING A HAND: Blake Arneson (Red Wing, Minn.) and Jack Campion (Crystal, Minn.) share the team lead in assists with two, while Winter, Tharaldson, Tushie, Kiemel, Connor Abric (Hayward, Wis.), Luke Cioli (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Callahan Nauss (Maple Plain, Minn.), and Jackson Nauss (Maple Plain, Minn.) have all chipped in one helper. … Tharaldson racked up a team-leading 12 assists last season.

• POINT PRODUCERS: With his three goals and single assist, Winter sits atop the Cardinals’ early points race with four, one more than Tharaldson and Tushie, with Arneson, Campion, and Kiemel all owning two points. … Tharaldson and Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) led the Cardinals last season with 16 and 15 points, respectively. 

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) has started five of SMU’s seven games in goal, compiling a 3.44 goals-against-average and .901 save percentage. … A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) has made the other three starts between the pipes, boasting a 5.05 GAA and .866 save %. … Sankner locked up his second career shutout in SMU’s 2-0, conference-opening win over Hamline on Nov. 3, stopping all 24 shots he faced. … Sankner has amassed 154 saves in five starts — including a season-high 37-save effort against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 10 — while Ruskowski (97 saves) kicked out a season-best 37 shots against Lake Forest on Oct. 27. … Sankner delivered a career-high 45-save effort performance against Augsburg on Nov. 18, 2022, while Ruskowski stopped a career-best 42 shots against St. Olaf on Jan. 13, 2023.

• FROM DEFENSE TO OFFENSE: Sankner collected his first collegiate assist, getting the lone helper on Sheberov’s first goal in the second period SMU’s 6-3 win over Lawrence on Jan. 2, 2023. … Sankner’s assist is the first by a Cardinal goalie since Nick Nash picked up an assist against Gustavus on Oct. 26, 2018.

• SCORING FIRST: Saint Mary’s has scored first in three of its first eight games, going 1-2-0 when netting the game’s first goal. … SMU is now 15-7-0 when scoring first since the start of the 2021-22 season, while going 2-19-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Eight of Saint Mary’s 10 goals have come at even strength. The Cardinals netted their first two power-play goals in their 4-2 loss to UW-Superior on Nov. 11. … SMU has gone 2-for-40 with the man advantage through eight games. SMU’s opponents, meanwhile, have netted 11 of their 36 goals on the power play, going 11-for-36 with the man advantage. … SMU has scored three times in the first period, four times in the second, and three times in the third. Fifteen of the 36 goals allowed by the Cardinals have come in the second period. SMU has also surrendered eight first-period goals and 13 in the game’s final stanza.

LAWRENCE SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Vikings head into their Tuesday showdown at Saint Mary’s sitting at 3-4-1 overall, while sporting a 2-3-1 mark in NCHA action.

• LAST TIME OUT: Lawrence erupted for eight goals in shutting out Concordia (Wis.) in the opening game of their two-game NCHA series last Friday, only to manage just one goal in the rematch, falling to the Spartans 4-1. 

• ROAD TRIPPIN’: The Vikings opened the season with three straight road games, before returning home to the Appleton Ice Center for four consecutive contests. Tuesday’s nonconference matchup against Saint Mary’s is the second of back-to-back road games. … Lawrence is 2-2-0 at home, while sporting a 1-2-1 road record. 

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Miles McCue enters Tuesday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s leading the Vikings with five goals, with Cory Checco, Jack Michels, and Carter Cloutier all tied for second with three. Cole Schneider has scored twice through eight games, and Ethan Beaumont, Cody Brekke, Will Crull, Oliver DeCroock, Robby Pustulka, Brendan Vettraino, and Jeb Dee have each scored once. … McCue scored four of his team-leading five goals against Concordia (Wis.) last Friday. … McCue, Schneider, and DeCroock have netted Lawrence’s three game-winning goals. 

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Lawrence’s 44 assists have come from 17 different players, led by Beaumont with six and Kyle Gierman with five. Schneider, Checco, and Michels have all delivered four helpers, and Jacob Jakusz and Jayden Jensen own three assists. … Jensen, Schneider, and Michels have all recorded a three-assist game this season.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Lawrence boasts four players sitting atop the team’s points race with seven — Beaumont, Checco, Michels, and McCue. Schneider is one point back at six, followed by Gierman with five, and Jakusz, Jensen, Brekke, Crull, and Cloutier with three each.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Nolan Mahaffey and Owen Carlson have shared the goaltending duties this season, with both making four starts. Mahaffey owns a 2.23 goals-against-average and .922 save percentage, while Carlson has compiled a 3.61 GAA and .892 save %. …. Mahaffey has made a team-high 119 saves, 12 more than Carlson and owns the team’s lone shutout — a 24-save effort against Concordia (Wis.) last Friday. … Mahaffey has not faced 30 or more shots in a game this season, owning a season-high 29-save effort against MSOE on Nov. 4. Carlson, meanwhile, kicked out a season-best 

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Sixteen of the Vikings’ 23 goals have come on the power play. Lawrence is 7-for-36 (19.4 %) with the man advantage. On the flip side, LU has killed off 31 of its opponents 40 PP chances (79.5 %). … Lawrence has scored one shot-handed goal, but the Vikings have allowed three shorties through eight games. … LU has scored six goals in the first period, eight in the second, and nine in the third. The Vikings’ opponents have netted 10 of their 24 goals in the middle frame, while adding five first-period goals and six in the third stanza. … Lawrence has played two overtime games this season, falling to Northland (3-2) in its season-opener on Oct. 27, and tying MSOE (2-2) on Nov. 3. … Lawrence posted season-highs in goals (8), assists (15), and points (23) in last Friday’s 8-0 win over Concordia (Wis.), while adding a season-best 46 shots on goal against Northland on Oct. 27.