SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2022-23: 5-5-0 MIAC, 9-9-1 Overall

SAINT JOHN’S JOHNNIES

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2022-23: 7-4-1 MIAC, 11-8-2 Overall

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SMU-SJU * A YEAR AGO:

W, 2-1 * L, 3-2 (ot) * L, 5-1

Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 27-28, 2023 * Bethel

L, 4-2 * W, 3-2 (ot)

SAINT JOHN’S * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 27-28, 2023 * Augsburg

W, 5-4 (ot) * L, 6-5

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 4, 2023

Saint John’s * 7:05 p.m.

SMU Ice Arena * Winona, MN

SAINT JOHN’S * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 4, 2023

Saint Mary’s * 7:05 p.m.

SMU Ice Arena * Winona, MN

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s heads into its conference matchup against Saint John’s on Thursday sitting at 9-9-1 overall, and 5-5-0 in conference play.

• LAST ACTION: Saint Mary’s bounced back to earn a two-game split against Bethel last weekend. The Cardinals surrendered goals in the first four minutes of all three periods in falling to the Royals 4-2 last Friday in Blaine, Minn., before getting a goal by Callahan Nauss (Maple Plain, Minn.) three minutes into overtime to beat BU 3-2 at the SMU Ice Arena the following evening.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Thursday’s game at Saint John’s will be the sixth road game in the last seven contests for the Cardinals, who own a 4-4-0 record on the road this season, while going 5-5-1 at the SMU Ice Arena.

• SPLITSVILLE: The Cardinals 4-2 loss and 3-2 win against Bethel last weekend marked the third time in five weekends that SMU has split its MIAC series. Saint Mary’s also split against Hamline and St. Olaf, while sweeping Gustavus and falling twice to Augsburg.

• OFFENSE IN SYNC: The Cardinals have netted 43 goals in their last 11 games — including back-to-back four-goal efforts against Gustavus on Dec. 3-4, five-goal showings vs. MSOE on Dec. 10 and Northland on Jan. 6, a seven-goal performance against Lawrence on Jan. 3, and a season-high eight-game outburst in beating St. Olaf 8-2 on Jan. 13.

• LONG TIME COMING: The Cardinals’ season-high eight goals in their 8-2 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 13 were the most in a game since SMU netted eight against Hamline on Feb. 23, 2014.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia) owns the team lead in goals with seven, one more than Trevor Schroder (Des Moines, Iowa) and two in front of Colin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo. Warner Young (Newberry, Mich.), Jack Campion (Crystal, Minn.), Callahan Nauss (Maple Plain, Minn.), and Thomas Magnavite (Chicago, Ill.) have scored four goals, followed by Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) and Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) with three each. … SMU has gotten goals from 18 different players. 

• TOSSING THE HAT: Sheberov netted his first collegiate hat trick against Lawrence on Jan. 2. He is the first Cardinal player to score three goals in a game since Andrew Froese (Traverse City, Mich.) achieved the feat against Gustavus on Feb. 23, 2021.

• DOUBLING UP: Saint Mary’s has had a player score two or more goals in a game five times this season. Along with Lindauer’s two-game effort against St. Olaf on Jan. 13 and Sheberov’s three-goal night against Lawrence on Jan. 2, Winter scored twice against Lake Forest on Oct. 28; Tharaldson recorded his first collegiate two-goal game against Gustavus on Dec. 3; and Tushie collected his first two-goal game as a Cardinal against MSOE on Dec. 10.

• MULTIPLE POINTS: Lindauer collected a pair of assists to go along with his two goal en route to his first collegiate four-point night against St. Olaf on Jan. 13, while Sheberov and Campion have each recorded career-high three-point games — Sheberov’s coming on three goals against Lawrence on Jan. 2, while Campion picked up a pair of assists to go with his first-period goal against Gustavus on Dec. 2. … Winter collected helpers on three of SMU’s four goals vs. the Gusties on Dec. 2 for his first career three-assist game — and third career three-point night.

• FIRST COLLEGIATE GOAL: Saint Mary’s has six players who have scored their first goals in a Cardinal uniform this season: Campion, Tushie, Luke Cioli (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Blake Campbell (Keller, Texas), Jackson Nauss (Maple Plain, Minn.), and Brendan Westbrook (Pine City, Minn.).

• LENDING A HAND: Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.) has racked up a team-leading 10 assists, two more than Poellinger and three in front of Lindauer and Young. Tushie, Winter, Campion, and Magnavite are tied fourth on the team with six assists, with Campion sitting with five helpers. 

• POINT PRODUCERS: Saint Mary’s boasts nine players who have reached double-digits in points this season — Tharaldson leads the way with 12 points, followed by Poellinger (11), Young (11), Tushie (11), Winter (11), Magnavite (10), Sheberov (10), Campion (10), and Lindauer (10). Winter (10). … Saint Mary’s has gotten at least one point from 23 different players — including goalkeeper Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.).

• WEEKLY HONORS: After scoring two goals and adding a pair of assists against Lake Forest on Oct. 28-29, Poellinger was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced on Oct. 31.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Saint Mary’s has used three different goalies this season. Sankner has stopped 299 of the 331 shots he’s faced in 11 appearances en route to a 3.10 GAA and a .903 save percentage, while A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) has appeared in eight games — including six starts — and owns a 3.42 GAA and .901 save %. Connor Close (Des Moines, Iowa) boasts a 5.34 GAA, .831 save % and has made 69 saves in his three starts. … Sankner delivered a career-high 45-save effort against Augsburg on Nov. 18, while Ruskowski stopped a season-best 42 shots against St. Olaf on Jan. 13 and Close recorded a career-high 36 saves against Lake Forest on Oct. 29.

• 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. … Sankner’s assist is the first by a Cardinal goalie since Nick Nash picked up an assist against Gustavus on Oct. 26, 2018.

• WORKING OVERTIME: The Cardinals have played three overtime games this season — beating Bethel 3-2 last Saturday, topping Northland 5-4 on Jan. 6, and battling Lake Forest to a 5-5 draw on Oct. 28.

• STREAKING: The Cardinals had their season-high six-game win streak snapped with their 4-1 loss to UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 7. After opening the season 1-6-1, SMU had rattled off wins over Lawrence (3-1), Gustavus (4-1 & 4-3), MSOE (5-3), Lawrence (6-3), and Northland (5-4 OT). … Saint Mary’s six-game win streak was its longest since winning six in a row during the 2005-06 season.

• CLEAN SHEET: Saint Mary’s was not whistled for a penalty in its 3-1 win over Lawrence on Nov. 22. All told, there were just two penalties called in the nonconference contest, both against the Vikings.

• SCORING FIRST: Saint Mary’s has scored first in eight of its last 11 games, and is sitting at 6-3-0 when netting the game’s first goal, while going 3-6-1 when its opponent scores first. … The Cardinals were 6-1-0 when netting the game’s first goal a year ago, while going 2-13-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: It was a tale of late-game heroics in SMU’s conference-opening series against Hamline on Nov. 4-5. HU scored two goals in the game’s final 3:33 en route to a 3-2 win over the Cardinals in the first game on Nov. 4, with SMU turning the tables in the rematch, scoring twice in a 33-second span in the final two minutes of regulation en route to a 2-1 victory the following evening.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Saint Mary’s has outscored its opponents 18-15 in the first period, but have been outscored 24-16 in the second and 31-23 in the third. … Saint Mary’s is 12 of 72 on the power play (16.7 %), while killing off 62 of its opponents 79 power-play opportunities (78.5 %). … SMU set season-highs in goals (8), assists (14), and points (22) against St. Olaf on Jan. 13, while its 46 shots on goal against Lawrence on Nov. 22 are also a season high

SAINT JOHN’S JOHNNIES SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Johnnies head into their Thursday showdown against Saint Mary’s sitting at 11-8-2 overall, including a 7-4-1 mark in 12 conference games.

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint John’s battled Augsburg to a pair of one-goal decisions last weekend. The Johnnies’ Jackson Sabo scored two minutes into overtime to give SJU a 5-4 win over the Auggies in an outdoor game last Friday as part of Hockey Day Minnesota Weekend, only to have Augsburg return the favor with a one-goal win of its own, 6-5, the following evening in St. Cloud, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Saint John’s is in the midst of playing three of four games on their home ice — the lone exception, Saturday’s rematch at Saint Mary’s. SJU is 5-3-0 on its home sheet this season, while sporting a 6-5-2 mark in games played away from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Nick Michel has been a goal-scoring machine for the Johnnies, netting a team-leading 14 goals in 20 games. Aggie Moore is second on the squad with eight goals, followed by Lewis Crosby and Max Borst with seven, and Mason Campbell with six. … Moore scored a single-game season-high three goals against Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 9.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Saint John’s boasts five players with at least 10 assists through 21 games — led by Moore and Crosby with 13 each. Campbell (11), Peter Tabor (11), and Michel (10) have also reached double digits in assists, while Jack Olsen is one helper shy of joining the club. … Michel dished out a single-game-season-high four helpers against Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 9.

• POINT PRODUCTION: Michel has racked up a team-high 24 points, three more than Moore. The duo are two of seven SJU players with 10 or more points, being joined by Crosby (20), Campbell (17), Borst (14), Tabor (13), and Olsen (10). … Michel scored once and assisted on four others for season-high five-point showing against Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 9.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Bailey Huber and Jon Howe have shared the goaltending duties this season. Huber has compiled a 1.92 goals-against-average and .926 save percentage in 14 appearances (843:07 minutes), while Howe owns a 3.18 GAA and .888 save percentage in 7 appearances (414:40 minutes). … Huber has compiled 337 saves, including a season-high 41 against UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 14, while Howe owns 174 saves. … Both Huber and Howe have recorded a shutout this season — Huber’s a 12-save blanking of Gustavus on Jan. 7 and Howe’s a 15-save effort in shutting out Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 9.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Saint John’s has outscored its opponents 70-50, including 20-17 in the first period, 23-17 in the second, and 26-15 in the third. … Twenty-seven of SJU’s 70 goals have come via special teams — 22 power-play goals and five shorthanded tallies. … The Johnnies are 22-for-63 with the man advantage (25.0 %), and having killed off 44 of their opponents’ 63 PP chances (69.8 %). … Saint John’s recorded season-highs in goals (7), assists (12), and points (19) against Concordia on Nov. 10. SJU also collected 12 assists against both Concordia (Wis.) on Dec. 9 and vs. Hamline on Jan. 19.