WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University men’s hockey team, which came up empty in its two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Thomas last weekend, is back in action on Friday, playing host to Augsburg at 7 p.m. at the SMU Ice Arena in the first game of the teams’ two-game, home-and-home conference series.
The Records:
Saint Mary’s Cardinals (1-9-0 MIAC / 1-17-1 Overall)
Augsburg Auggies (4-5-1 MIAC / 11-7-1 Overall)
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Last Action: The Cardinals were swept by St. Thomas last weekend. SMU jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead and held a 3-2 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes, but St. Thomas scored two goals in the third period — the first 1:27 into the period and the second with 10 minutes remaining — as the Tommies rallied for a
4-3 conference win at the SMU Ice Arena. UST then completed the sweep the following night, scoring the game’s first three goals en route to a
4-1 victory at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. Augsburg, meanwhile, split its two games vs. Hamline last weekend, picking up a
5-4 overtime win at home on Friday, then falling
3-2 to the Pipers the following evening in St. Paul, Minn.
A Year Ago: Feb. 13-14, 2009: The Auggies picked up a pair of conference wins over the Cardinals a year ago. SMU got on the board just 1:31 into the first period in the opener in Minneapolis., Minn., but Augsburg scored twice in the first period, three times in the second and once in the third — in handing SMU a 6-2 MIAC setback. In the rematch a day later at the SMU Ice Arena, Augsburg erupted for eight goals in the opening two periods to take an 8-2 lead en route to a 9-3 victory.
Saint Mary’s Cardinal Notes: Ben Kitzmiller (Lambertville, Mich.) scored SMU’s lone goal vs. the Tommies in Saturday’s 4-1 loss. It was the third goal of the season for the junior defenseman. … Morgan Shepherd (Brainerd, Minn.) scored two of SMU’s three goals in Friday’s 4-3 loss to UST. It was the senior’s first two-goal game of the season and the first multiple-goal game since recording his first collegiate hat trick on Dec. 7, 2007 against Concordia. … Blake Zemaitis (Mount Prospect, Ill.) also scored vs. the Tommies Friday. … Shepherd also assisted on Zemaitis’ goal, completing his first three-point game since Dec. 7, 2007 vs. Concordia, when he not only scored three goals, but also added two assists. … Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) stopped 30 St. Thomas shots on Friday, while Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) kicked out a career-best 37 shots in Saturday’s rematch with the Tommies. … With his two goals on Friday, Shepherd leads the team in goals with five, while Anthony Bohn (Spring Hill, Fla.) boasts team highs in assists (11) and points (15). … Bohn is one of three SMU players with 10 or more points — Shepherd (10) and Vincent Unklesbay (Maplewood, Minn.) (10) are the other two. … Horstman has stopped 40 or more shots twice this season — kicking out a career-high 42 shots vs. Concordia on Nov. 14, 2009 and 41 vs. St. Olaf on Jan. 15. … Horstman enters this weekend’s conference series vs. Augsburg with a team-leading 4.09 goals-against-average and an .883 save percentage. … SMU’s 38 goals have come from 16 different players, while 20 different Cardinals have notched at least one point. … The Cardinals have been outscored 34-12 in the game’s middle period and 28-12 in the third period. … After giving up two powerplay goals in Friday’s 4-3 loss to St. Thomas, the Cardinals were a perfect 8-for-8 on the penalty kill on Saturday — including killing off three straight 5-on-3 situations. … SMU’s Jan. 9 game vs. UW-River Falls was the second overtime game of the season for the Cardinals, who also tied Nichols 4-4 in overtime on Jan. 2. The Cardinals were 2-0-1 in OT games a year ago.
Augsburg Auggie Notes: With Saturday’s loss vs. Hamline, the Auggies have now split their last two conference series and are looking for their first MIAC sweep since taking two from Saint John’s (3-2, 3-1) on Dec. 4-5. … Nine of Augsburg’s 19 games have been decided by one goal. … The Auggies have played in four overtime games this season, going 3-0-1. Augsburg beat UW-Stout (5-4), St. Olaf (4-3) and Hamline (5-4) and tied St. Thomas (3-3). … Augsburg has scored two goals or less in all seven of its losses, and has been shut out three times. On the flip side, the Auggies scored four goals or more in eight of their 11 wins. … Joel Sauer scored goals No. 10 and 11 on the season vs. Hamline last Saturday to account for both of the Auggies’ goals in the 3-2 loss. … The Auggies scored the game’s first four goals in Friday’s game vs. Hamline, but needed Mario Mjelleli’s goal 68 seconds into overtime to notch the win. … Sauer and Nick Guran share the team lead in goals with 11 each, while Guran and Chris Johnson are the team’s assist leaders with 11. Guran (22) and Sauer (21) have each eclipsed the 20-point plateau. The two are also among the seven Augsburg players who have recorded 10 or more points. … Augsburg has used three different goalies this season, and the trio has combined to post a 2.55 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage. … The Auggies have outscored their opponents 20-13 in the first period and 19-16 in the second, but they have been outscored 20-12 in the game’s final 20 minutes.