SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
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2023-24: 3-1-0 MIAC, 7-2-0 Overall
#1 GUSTAVUS GUSTIES
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2023-24: 4-0-0 MIAC, 5-0-0 Overall
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Fri: GAC at SMU - Stats * Video
Sat: SMU at GAC - Stats * Video
MIAC: WH Home * Standings * Schedule
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SMU-GAC * A YEAR AGO:
Dec. 2-3, 2023
L, 4-0; L, 3-0 * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
Nov. 21, 2023 * Stevens Point, WI
UW-Stevens Point * W, 5-2
GUSTAVUS * LAST ACTION:
Nov. 17-18, 2023
Bethel * W, 4-0; W, 7-0
SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:
Dec. 5, 2023 * Dubuque, IA
University of Dubuque * 7 p.m.
GUSTAVUS * UP NEXT:
Dec. 5, 2023 * River Falls, WI
#4 UW-River Falls * 7:05 p.m.
SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference showdown against No. 1-ranked Gustavus sitting at 7-2-0 overall, including a 3-1-0 showing through the first two games of the conference season.
• LAST ACTION: Sophia Paduano (Westby, Wis.) scored a pair of goals in leading the Cardinals to a 5-2 nonconference win over UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 21 in Stevens Point, Wis.
• ON A ROLL: With their nonconference win over UW-Stevens Point, Saint Mary’s pushed its winning streak to three, and moved its overall record to 7-2-0 — SMU’s best nine-game start to the season since going 7-1-1 in 1999-2000.
• 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 — and will take on their third nationally-ranked foe this weekend in No. 1 Gustavus.
• HOME SWEET HOME: The Cardinals have played five of their nine games this season on their home ice, going a 4-1-0. SMU has beaten Lake Forest (7-0, 8-0), UW-Eau Claire (2-1), and Augsburg (3-2), while falling to Hamline 2-1 in OT. … With their 5-2 win against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 21, SMU moved to 3-1-0 away from the SMU Ice Arena this season.
• CLOSE CALLS: Six of the Cardinals’ last seven games have been decided by two goals or less — including one-goal decisions in three of those outings — a 2-1 OT loss to Hamline, and 3-2 and 2-1 wins over Augsburg.
• 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 10th goal of the season against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 21. The freshman — who sits No. 3 in NCAA Division III in goals scored — has now netted a goal in seven of the team’s nine games, including each of the last three contests. … Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.) and Sophia Paduano (Westby, Wis.) are tied for second with four goals each, followed by Mikayla Vasilevich (Chicago, Ill.) with three. … Heitzman’s 10 goals this season are the most since Anya Hafiz scored 13 goals during the 2019-20 season.
• FIRST AS A CARDINAL: Saint Mary’s has already had six players — Heitzman, Vasilevich, Albers, Midtbo, Paduano, and Ella Hennes (Ramsey, Minn.) — 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 already matched that mark with a team-best seven helpers through nine games. Kenzie Meland (Zimmerman, Minn.) is second on the team with five assists, followed by Heitzman with four, and Paduano, Midtbo, Sherner, Skye Norgren (Fergus Falls, Minn.), and Teagan Phillips (Oregon, Wis.). … Saint Mary’s 42 assists have come from 17 different players.
• POINT PRODUCERS: Heitzman and Urlaub have both already reached double figures in points through nine games, with Heitzman leading the charge with 14 points, three more than Urlaub. followed by Paduano with seven, and Midtbo and Meland with five each. … Heitzman has recorded at least one point in all nine games this season. …
• BIG NIGHTS: 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. … Heitzman has recorded two multiple-goal games — scoring three times against Lake Forest on Oct. 28 and adding a pair of goals against Augsburg on Nov. 17 — while Vasilevich tallied a two-goal game against Lake Forest on Oct. 28, and Paduano tallied the first multiple-goal game of her career with two tallies against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 21.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES:Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.) has started all nine games in goal for the Cardinals, compiling a 1.23 goals-against-average and a .952 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 two seasons as a Cardinal. … Rimstad, who recorded 252 saves last season, has stopped 220 of the 231 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
• 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.
• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: SMU has outshot its opponents 243-236, and has outscored its first nine opponents 33-13. … The Cardinals have outshot their opponents 86-84 in the first period and 82-66 in the second, but have been outshot 85-74 in the third. … The Cardinals have scored 14 of their 33 goals in the second period, adding nine tallies in the first and 10 in the third. … Saint Mary’s is 3-for-24 on the power play (12.5 %), while killing off 27 of its opponents 28 PP opportunities (96.4 %). … 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.
GUSTAVUS SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Gusties enter their two-game conference series against Saint Mary’s boasting an unblemished 5-0-0 record — including a perfect 4-0-0 showing through the first four games of the MIAC slate.
• LAST TIME OUT: Gustavus has been off since Nov. 17-18, when they posted a pair of shutout wins over Bethel. GAC routed the Royals 4-0 at home on Nov. 17, before tacking on three more goals in a 7-0 drubbing of BU in Blaine, Minn., the following afternoon.
• YEAR TO REMEMBER: The Gusties capped a remarkable 2022-23 season — which included both MIAC regular-season and tournament titles — with a 3-2, triple-overtime victory over Amherst in the NCAA title game. It was the first national title in program history, and the first by an MIAC women’s hockey team. … GAC’s win over Amherst, which spanned 101:33 minutes, is the longest game in NCAA Division III women’s hockey history. … Last year marked the third straight NCAA appearance for Gustavus — including back-to-back trips to the title game in 2022 and 2023.
• STREAKING ALONG: With their five consecutive wins to open the season, the Gusties extended their winning streak to 16 in a row, dating back to a 2-1 loss to UW-River Falls on Jan. 31, 2023. … GAC has outscored its opponents 70-11 during its current 16-game win streak.
• THROWING UP ZEROS: Gustavus have allowed just one goal through its first five games — heading into this weekend’s games against Saint Mary’s having posted shutouts in each of their last four games. … GAC has not allowed a goal since the 12:32 mark of the second period of a 5-1 win over Augsburg on Oct. 27 — a span of 247:28 minutes of shutout hockey.
• HOME SWEET HOME: Friday’s game at Saint Mary’s will be the fourth road contest of the season for the Gusties, who enter the home-and-home series with the Cardinals 2-0-0 on their home ice, and 3-0-0 away from Don Roberts Arena.
• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Gustavus has amassed 23 goals in five games, and boasts nine different players who have netted at least one goal. … Brooke Power, Sophia Coltvet, Hannah Gray, and Hailey Holland all share the team lead with four goals each, with Kaitlyn Holland and Macy Janssen each owning a pair of goals. Avery Braunshausen, Kylie Ligday, and Katie Reed own GAC’s other three goals. … Hailey Holland scored three goals in the Gusties’ 7-0 win over Bethel in their last game on Nov. 18.
• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Emily Olson is the team-leader in assists with six, two more than Kaitlyn Holland and Molly McHugh, with Power chipping in three helpers. … Kaitlyn Holland delivered a season-high three assists against St. Scholastica on Nov. 9.
• POINT PRODUCERS: With her four goals and three assists, Power sits atop the team’s points race with seven, one up on Olson, Kaitlyn Holland, Coltvet, Gray, and Hailey Holland, with McHugh and Janssen chipping in four points. … GAC has gotten at least one point from 15 different players. … Kaitlyn scored two goals and added three assists for a single-game season-high five points against St. Scholastica on Nov. 9.
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Katie McCoy has started all five games in goal for the Gusties, compiling a 0.21 goals-against-average and a .985 save percentage — both rank No. 2 in all of NCAA Division III. … McCoy has stopped 64 of the 65 shots she’s faced and owns three shutouts — while sharing the other shutout with Maya Marston, who has played 13:53 minutes in relief, stopping the lone shot she’s faced. … McCoy posted a season-high 25 saves against Augsburg on Oct. 27. … McCoy started 29 of the team’s 30 games in 2022-23, finishing the year with a 0.86 GAA and .946 save %.
• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Gustavus has outscored its first five opponents 23-1, while holding a commanding 189-66 advantage in shots on goal. … The Gusties have scored six goals on 18 power-play opportunities (33.3 %), while the lone goal GAC has allowed this season was also a PP tally. … GAC has scored seven goals in each of the first two periods, while adding nine third-period goals. Gustavus’ lone goal allowed came in the second period. … Gustavus’ seven goals in its 7-0 win over Bethel were a season-high, while the Gusties’ 12 assists, 18 points, and 46 shots on goal against St. Scholastica on Nov. 9 were also season-highs.
