SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 2-8-2 Overall

NORTHLAND LUMBERJACKS

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2023-24: 1-14-0 Overall

#9 UW-EAU CLAIRE BLUGOLDS

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2023-24: 8-4-1 Overall

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SMU-NORTHLAND * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 6, 2023 * Ashland, WI

W, 5-4 (ot) * Series History

SMU-UWEC * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 7, 2023 * Eau Claire, WI

L, 4-1 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 8, 2023 * Winona, MN

U. of Dubuque * T, 2-2 (ot)

NORTHLAND * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 8-9, 2023

St. Scholastica * L, 8-1

UW-Superior * L, 3-1

UW-EAU CLAIRE * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 8-9, 2023

#9 UW-Stevens Point * L, 2-1; L, 2-0

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Jan. 12, 2024 * Winona, MN

St. Olaf * 7:05 p.m.

Jan. 13, 2024 * Northfield, MN

St. Olaf * 5 p.m.

NORTHLAND * UP NEXT: 

Jan. 19-20, 2024 * Menomonie, WI

UW-Stout * 7 p.m./7 p.m.

UW-EAU CLAIRE * UP NEXT: 

Jan. 12, 2024 * Eau Claire, WI

Hamline * 7 p.m.

Jan. 13, 204 * Eau Claire, WI

St. Scholastica * 7 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: Saint Mary’s steps out of conference play this weekend against both Northland and UW-Eau Claire sitting at 2-8-2 overall, including sporting a 1-4-1 record after its first four MIAC contests.

• LAST ACTION: Saint Mary’s delivered a season-high 49 shots on goal, but could only get goals from Luke Ciolli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Nikita Sheberov (Obninsk, Russia), as the Cardinals settled for a 2-2 overtime tie against the University of Dubuque on Dec. 8.

• 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. … This weekend’s games against Northland and UW-Eau Claire are the third and fourth of five consecutive home games for the Cardinals, who will also entertain St. Olaf on Jan. 13, before finally hitting the road again for their MIAC rematch with the Oles in Northfield, Minn., on Jan. 14. … SMU is sitting at 2-1-2 at home this season, while going 0-7-0 way from the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Collin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Bud Winter share the team lead in goals with five each. Sheberov is third on the team with three goals, with Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.), Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo), and Noah Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) all owning a pair of tallies. … Ciolli, Blake Arneson (Red Wing, Minn.), Clay Allen (Anchorage, Alaska), Cooper Smyl (Fairfield, Calif.), and Callahan Nauss (Maple Grove, Minn.) have accounted for SMU’s other five 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 four players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season — Arneson, Allen, Smyl, 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. … 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.

• MULTIPLE GOALS: Tushie and Winter own SMU’s two multiple-goal games this season. Tushie recorded his second collegiate two-goal game against Gustavus on Dec. 1, while Winter picked up the fourth career two-goal game against Lawrence on Nov. 21.

• LENDING A HAND: Jack Campion (Crystal, Minn.) owns a team-leading four assists through 12 games, followed by Winter, Arneson, Ciolli, Nauss, Connor Abric (Hayward, Wis.), and Warner Young (Newberry, Mich.) with three each. … Campion and Brendan Westbrook (Pine City, Minn.) have both posted two-assist games this season.

• POINT PRODUCERS: With his five goals and three assists, Winter sits atop the team’s points race with eight, one more than Tushie. Campion, Arneson, Ciolli, Nauss, Tharaldson, and Sheberov all own four points, followed by Abric, Young, and both Kiemels with three apiece. … Winter recorded season-high three-point games against Lawrence on Nov. 21, scoring twice and adding an assist. … Tushie has posted four points (3 G, 1 A) in his last four games.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Matt Sankner (Pennington, N.J.) has started nine of SMU’s 12 games in goal, compiling a 3.41 goals-against-average and .895 save percentage. … A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) has made the other two 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 265 saves in nine 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 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 six of its 12 games, going 3-2-1 when netting the game’s first goal. … SMU is now 17-7-1 when scoring first since the start of the 2021-22 season, while going 2-20-1 when their opponent nets the game’s first goal.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Eighteen of Saint Mary’s 24 goals have come at even strength. SMU netted a season-high three of its six PP goals against Lawrence on Nov. 21. … SMU has gone 6-for-54 with the man advantage through 12 games (11.1 %). SMU’s opponents, meanwhile, have netted 14 of their 50 goals on the power play, going 14-for-50 with the man advantage (28.0 %). … SMU has scored five times in the first period, 14 times in the second — including six against Lawrence on Nov. 21 — and five times in the third. Twenty-one of the 50 goals allowed by the Cardinals have come in the second period. SMU has also surrendered 13 first-period goals and 16 in the game’s final stanza. … SMU’s eight goals against Lawrence 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.

NORTHLAND SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Lumberjacks head into their nonconference games at Saint Mary’s and St. Olaf sitting at 1-14-0 this season, including an 0-7-0 mark in WIAC action.

• LAST TIME OUT: Northland has been off since Dec. 8-9, when the Lumberjacks managed just single goals in back-to-back losses to #5 St. Scholastica (8-1) and UW-Superior (3-1).

• LIMPING IN: After opening the season with a 3-2, overtime win over Lawrence on Oct. 27, the Lumberjacks have lost their last 14 contests. … Northland has been outscored 36-6 in its last seven games. … NC’s lone win this season came on its home ice. The Lumberjacks are 1-8-0 in their nine home contests, while still searching for their first win on the road (0-6-0).

• AGAINST THE MIAC: Northland is 0-6-0 against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season, having dropped games to Concordia (6-2), Saint John’s (5-1), Hamline (4-1), Augsburg (5-3), and #5 St. Scholastica (6-2 & 8-1).

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Camille Marcoux and Jackson Breton have accounted for 11 of the Lumberjacks’ 23 goals this season, with Marcoux leading the team with six goals, one more than Breton. … Ben Stewart has scored three times, followed by Zach Ross and Logan Gallagher with two each. Bryson Cecconi, Andrew Liwiski, Kenny Styles, Brandon Holt, and Evan Likos own the Lumberjacks’ other five goals.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Cecconi owns a team-best eight assists, with Stewart sitting second with six. Marcoux, Ross, Liwiski and Eric Honold have all contributed three helpers, while Styles and Taylor each own two.

• POINT PRODUCERS: There’s a three-way logjam atop the Northland points race — Cecconi, Stewart and Marcoux are all deadlocked with nine points, followed by Breton with six, Ross with five, and Liwiski with four.

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Northland has used three different goalies this season, led by Viktor Wennberg, who has appeared in 13 games, compiling a 4.05 goals-against-average and .910 save percentage. Andrew Yocum has played in seven games, posting a 5.89 GAA and .859 save % and Mitch Taylor owns a 13.55 GAA and .571 save % in 13:17 minutes. … Wennberg has stopped 457 of the 502 shots he’s faced, with Yocum recording 126 saves. … Wennberg has stopped 40 or more shots six times this season, including a season-high 55-save effort against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 17.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Northland has been outscored 72-23 this season, including 21-4 in the first period, 28-12 in the second, and 23-6 in the third. … Ten of the Lumberjacks’ 23 goals this season have come on the power play. NC is 10-for-74 (13.5 %) with the man advantage. On the flip side, Northland’s opponents own 17 power-play goals on 79 chances (21.5 %). … Northland has scored two short-handed goals, and give up four short-handed tallies. … Northland has scored a season-high three goals four times, while posting season-highs in assists (6) and points (9) against both Lawrence on Oct. 27 and Augsburg on Nov. 11. NC delivered a season-best 41 shots on goal against Hamline on Nov. 10.

UW-EAU CLAIRE SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Blugolds head into their nonconference games against St. Olaf and Saint Mary’s this weekend sitting at 8-4-1 overall, including 4-3-1 through eight WIAC games.

• LAST TIME OUT: UW-Eau Claire was held to just one goal in its two-game series against ninth-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 8-9, as the Pointers dealt the Blugolds 2-1 and 2-0 conference setbacks.

• HOME SWEET HOME: This weekend’s nonconference games against the Oles and Cardinals are the second and third of three straight road games for the Blugolds, who return home next weekend for back-to-back home contests against Hamline and St. Scholastica. … The Blugolds have lost just once in six home contests this season, sporting a 4-1-1 record, while going 4-3-0 away from Hobbs Ice Arena.

• IN TYHE POLLS: The Blugolds head into the weekend sitting No. 9 in the latest USCHO.com Poll.

• AGAINST THE MIAC: The Blugolds play eight games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season. UW-EC has already faced Augsburg (W, 5-4), Saint John’s (W, 4-2), Gustavus (W, 4-0), and Bethel (T, 2-2), and after this weekend’s games at St. Olaf and Saint Mary’s, will face Hamline and St. Scholastica next weekend.

• LIGHTING THE LAMP: Leo Bacallao heads into the weekend leading the Blugolds in scoring with six goals, one more than Kyler Grundy and two up on Tyler Herzberg. Quin Green, Sammy Martel, Jack Johnston, and Connor Szumul have all scored three times, with Trenten Heyde, Aaron Swanson, and Willy Stauber chipping in two goals each. … Bacallao is the only Blugold player to record a multiple-goal game, scoring twice against Northland on Nov. 17. … Bacallao and Stauber share the team lead with two game-winning goals each.

• LENDING A HELPING HAND: Grundy has been an assist machine this season, dishing out a team-high 12 helpers in UW-EC’s first 13 games. Heyde is second on the team with nine assists, followed by Bacallao with seven, and Green with six. … Heyde delivered a season-high five assists against Northland on Nov. 17.

• POINT PRODUCERS: Fueled by his 12 assists, Grundy sits atop the team’s points race with 17, while Bacallao (13) and Heyde (11) have also reached double figures in points with 11. … Grundy has recorded at least one point in 10 of UW-EC’s 13 games this season — including a five-point game against Northland on Nov. 17. 

• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Max Gutjahr has started 12 of the Blugolds’ 13 games in goal, compiling a 2.08 goals-against-average and a .921 save percentage. Josh Langford has made UW-EC’s other start between the pipes, allowing one goal, while stopping 13 of the 14 shots he faced against Northland on Nov. 17. … Gutjahr has stopped 291 of 316 shots, including a season-high 39 saves against Bethel on Nov. 11. … Gutjahr has posted two shutouts this season — stopping all 24 shots against Gustavus on Nov. 4, and adding a 23-save shutout against UW-Superior on Dec. 1.

• WORKING OVERTIME: The Blugolds have played four overtime games this season, going 2-1-1. UW-EC beat Augsburg (5-4) and UW-Stout (4-3), lost to UW-Stevens Point (2-1), and tied Bethel (2-2).

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: UW-Eau Claire has outscored its first 13 opponents 40-27, including 8-7 in the first period, 12-8 in the second, and 18-9 in the third. … The Blugolds have scored nine power-play goals on 47 chances (19.1 %), while UW-EC’s opponents have scored five times on 46 man advantage opportunities (10.9 %). … UW-Eau Claire set season highs in goals (6), assists (12), points (18), and shots on goal (61) in its 6-1 win over Northland on Nov. 17. … UW-Eau Claire has allowed more than three goals in a game just twice, allowing four in a 5-4, season-opening win over Augsburg on Oct. 28, and surrendering a season-high five in falling to UW-Stevens Point 5-3 on Nov. 14.