SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 3-4-1 MIAC, 5-10-2 Overall

BETHEL ROYALS

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2023-24: 6-2-2 MIAC, 12-4-3 Overall

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SMU-BETHEL * A YEAR AGO:

Jan. 27-28, 2023

L, 4-2; W, 3-2 (ot) * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 16, 2024 * Appleton, WI

Lawrence * L, 6-4

BETHEL * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 19-20, 2024 * Moorhead, MN

Concordia * T, 4-4 (ot); W, 6-0

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 1, 2024 * Winona, MN

Saint John’s * 7:05 p.m.

Feb. 3, 2024 * St. Cloud, MN

Saint John’s * 7 p.m.

BETHEL * UP NEXT: 

Feb., 2, 2024 * Blaine, MN

St. Scholastica * 7 p.m.

Feb. 3, 2024 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * 7 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s returns to conference play with this weekend’s two-game series against Bethel sitting at 5-10-2 overall, including sporting a 3-4-1 record after its first eight MIAC contests.

• LAST ACTION: The Cardinals erupted for three goals in the third period, but the late rally was not enough, as Lawrence scored the game’s first five goals — including three in a three-minute span to open the second period — as the Vikings dealt SMU a 6-4 nonconference setback on Jan. 16.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Friday’s home game against Bethel is the sixth home game in their last seven contests — and the eighth in the last 10 games — for the Cardinals. … SMU is sitting at 4-2-2 at home this season, while the Cardinals picked up their first win away from the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena (1-8-0) with their 3-2 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 13.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: With his three goals against St. Olaf on Jan. 19, Colin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) moved into the team lead with eight goals, one more than Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.). Noah Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia) are sitting tied for third with four goals, followed by Carter Newpower (Cottage Grove, Minn.) with three. … 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 six players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season — Newpower, Connor Abric (Hayward, Wis.), Blake Arneson (Red Wing, Minn.), Clay Allen (Anchorage, Alaska), Cooper Smyl (Fairfield, Calif.), and Noah Kiemel. … Saint Mary’s had six players who scored their first goals in a Cardinal uniform a year ago.

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: Saint Mary’s eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21 came from seven different players — with Winter the only Cardinal with more than one tally — while SMU’s four goals in the rematch against the Vikings on Jan. 16 were scored by four different players. … SMU’s 12 points (4 G, 8 A) against Gustavus on Dec. 2 came from 11 different players — only Tushie (2 G) had more than one point.

• TOSSING THE HAT: Tushie recorded his first collegiate hat trick in the Cardinals’ 5-3 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 12. It’s the third hat trick in the last two seasons for the Cardinals, who got three-goal games from Sheberov and Brady Lindauer a year ago.

• MULTIPLE GOALS: With his three goals against St. Olaf on Jan. 12, Tushie now owns two multiple-goal games this season, having also scored twice against Gustavus on Dec. 1. … Winter also boasts two multiple-goal games this season, scoring twice against Lawrence on Nov. 21 and twice vs. Northland on Jan. 5. … Newpower and Noah Kiemel have accounted for SMU’s other two multiple-goal games — Newpower found the back of the net twice against Northland on Jan. 5, while Kiemel scored twice against St. Olaf last Saturday.

• LENDING A HAND: Winter heads into this weekend’s matchup against Bethel owning a team-high seven assists, one more than Jack Campion (Crystal, Minn.), with Tushie and Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) each owning five helpers. Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.), Abric, and Warner Young (Newberry, Mich.) have all chipped in four assists. … Poellinger collected his first collegiate three-assist game against Northland on Jan. 5.

• POINT PRODUCERS: With his seven goals and seven assists, Winter sits atop the team’s points race with 14, one more than Tushie. Campion, Tharaldson, and Newpower have all amassed six points, followed by Poellinger, Abric, Young, Noah Kiemel, and Sheberov with five each. … SMU has gotten at least one point from 22 different players. … Tushie recorded a single-game season- and career-high four points with his three goals and an assist against St. Olaf on Jan. 12. Winter (2 G, 1 A) and Poellinger (3 A) have recorded season-high three-point games this season.

• NETTING THE GAME-WINNER: Winter leads the team with two game-winning goals, with Tushie, Noah Kiemel, and Nick Kiemel netting the Cardinals’ other three game-winners.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) has started 12 of SMU’s 17 games in goal, compiling a 3.48 goals-against-average and .892 save percentage. … A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) has made the other five starts between the pipes, boasting a 4.45 GAA and .881 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 348 saves in 13 starts — including a season-high 37-save effort against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 10 — while Ruskowski (163 saves) kicked out a season-best 37 shots against Lake Forest on Oct. 27. … Sankner delivered a career-high 45-save performance against Augsburg on Nov. 18, 2022, while Ruskowski stopped a career-best 42 shots against St. Olaf on Jan. 13, 2023.

• SCORING FIRST: Saint Mary’s has scored first in eight of its 17 games, going 6-2-1 when netting the game’s first goal. … SMU is now 20-7-1 when scoring first since the start of the 2021-22 season, while going 2-22-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Twenty-nine of Saint Mary’s 41 goals have come at even strength. … SMU has gone 12-for-75 with the man advantage through 17 games (16.0 %), and scored a season-high three power-play goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21. … SMU’s opponents, meanwhile, have netted 18 of their 69 goals on the power play, going 18-for-66 with the man advantage (27.3 %). … SMU has scored 10 times in the first period, 15 times in the second, and 16 in the third. Thirty-three of the 69 goals allowed by the Cardinals have come in the second period. SMU has also surrendered 14 first-period goals and 22 in the game’s final stanza. … SMU’s eight goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21 were a season-high, and the most since beating St. Olaf 8-2 on Jan. 13, 2023. … The Cardinals posted a season-high 49 shots on goal against the University of Dubuque on Dec. 8. It was SMU’s highest shot total since peppering the Bethel net with 58 SOG on Feb. 18, 2022.

BETHEL SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals head into their weekend showdown against Saint Mary’s sitting at 12-4-3 overall, while owning a 6-2-2 mark through the first 10 games of their conference slate.

• LAST TIME OUT: Joe Westlund scored three times and Travis Allen recorded 43 saves, as the Royals battled Concordia to a 4-4 tie in the first game of the teams’ MIAC series last weekend in Moorhead, Minn. BU finished its five-point weekend, getting a 24-save shutout from Austin Ryman in the Royals’ 6-0 victory the following day. 

• ROAD WARRIORS: Friday’s game against Saint Mary’s is the third straight road game, and the fourth road contest in the last five outings. Bethel boasts a near-perfect 7-1-0 record on its home ice, while sitting at 6-3-3 away from Bethel Arena at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn.

• ON A ROLL: Since dropping back-to-back games to UW-River Falls (3-1) and Augsburg (4-3), the Royals have gone 2-0-1 in their last three — beating the Auggies 5-0 in the second game of their MAIC series, and tying (4-4) and beating Concordia (6-0) last weekend. … BU’s 3-1 loss to UW-River Falls on Jan. 6 snapped its season-high five-game winning streak.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Tyler Kostelecky heads into the weekend series against Saint Mary’s leading the Royals with 10 goals. Fueled by his hat trick last Friday against Concordia, Westlund moved into second on the team with seven goals, followed by Tyler Braccini with six and Ben Doherty with five. … Westlund’s hat trick against Concordia marked the only time this season BU has had a player net more than two goals in a game. … BU’s 57 goals this season have come from 18 different players.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Justin Kelley has already reached double figures in assists, boasting a team-leading 14 helpers in 19 games. Jack Brown has chipped in eight assists, followed by Kostelecky and Doherty with seven, and Dane Stoyanoff with six. … Spencer Kring delivered a season-best three assists against Augsburg on Jan. 13.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Bethel comes into the weekend sporting six players who have reached the 10-point plateau, led by Kelley and Kostelecky, who share the team lead with 17 points. Brown, Doherty, and Westlund are all sitting with 12 points, while Braccini owns 11. … Kring, Westlund, and Braeden Bartoo have all recorded three-point games this season.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: The Royals have used two goalies this season, with Travis Allen making 10 starts, while Austin Ryman has made nine. … Ryman has compiled a 1.86 goals-against-average and .939 save percentage, with Allen recording nearly identical numbers, owning a 1.88 GAA and .929 save %. … Ryman has stopped a team-high 277 shots, just two more than Allen’s 275 saves this season. … Ryman has made 30 or more saves five times, including a season-high 36-save showing against Augsburg on Jan. 12. Allen, meanwhile, boasts three games of 30+ saves, with his 43-save effort against Concordia last Friday his season high. … Allen has recorded two shutouts — stopping 31 shots against UW-Superior on Nov. 10 and kicking out all 17 against Augsburg on Jan. 13, while Ryman’s 24-save effort against Concordia last Saturday was his first shutout of the season. 

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Bethel has outscored its opponents 57-38 heading into its weekend series against Saint Mary’s. … Bethel has converted on 9 of 55 power-play attempts (16.4 %), while killing off 55 of its opponents 61 PP opportunities (90.2 %). … The Royals’ six goals, 10 assists and 16 points in last Saturday’s 6-0 win over Concordia were all season-highs. … Bethel has scored three or more goals 11 times — going 9-1-1, with the lone loss a 4-3 setback to Augsburg and the tie a 4-4 decision against Concordia. … Twelve of BU’s 19 games have been decided by two goals or less. … Bethel has played five overtime games this season — beating St. Olaf (2-1) and Saint John’s (3-2), and tying St. Olaf (1-1) and Concordia (4-4).