BLAINE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team kicks off its season on Saturday, taking on St. Thomas (Saturday) and St. Olaf (Sunday) as part of the MIAC Men's Hockey Showcase at Fogerty Ice Arena.



The Matchups:
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saint Mary's Cardinals vs. St. Thomas Tommies, 7 p.m.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saint Mary's Cardinals vs. St. Olaf Oles, 2:30 p.m.

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | Video Preview

MIAC Showcase On The Web:
Showcase Preview | Showcase Scoreboard

SMU at MIAC Showcase — A Year Ago:
October 30, 2010: Augsburg scored three goals in the game's first six minutes and handed the Cardinals — who had 11 players making their collegiate debut — an 8-4 setback in the team's season opener at Fogerty Ice Arena in Blaine, Minn.
October 31, 2010: Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) made 33 saves and Jimmy Becker (Wildomar, Calif.) scored in the first period, but it was not enough, as Gustavus slipped past SMU 2-1 at Fogerty Ice Arena in Blaine, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 28, 2011: Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) scored with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting the Cardinals to a 3-3 conference tie against the Tommies at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 29, 2011: St. Thomas erupted for three, second-period goals in cruising to a 6-2 MIAC win over the Cardinals at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Olaf — A Year Ago:
November 16, 2010: SMU got second-period goals from Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.), Danny Wood (Wilmington , Ohio) and Ben Kitzmiller (Lambertville, Mich.) in handing St. Olaf a 3-1 nonconference setback at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 14, 2011: Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) stopped 27 shots for his first collegiate shutout, and Nick Nagle (Andover, Minn.) and Andrew Ketterer (Peoria, Ill.) recorded their first collegiate goals, as SMU dropped the Oles 2-0 at the SMU Ice Arena.
January 15, 2011: St. Olaf erupted for four unanswered goals in the game's final 26 minutes, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to hand the Cardinals a 4-3 MIAC setback in Northfield, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road next weekend, taking on St. Scholastica in a 7 p.m. nonconference game in Duluth, Minn., before going across the river to square off against UW-Superior at 7 p.m. on Saturday. … St. Thomas opens its home schedule next Saturday, hosting Concordia in a 7 p.m. nonconference contest. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, joins SMU in the Duluth area next weekend, facing UW-Superior at 7 p.m. on Friday, before taking on St. Scholastica at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2010-11 Final Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
The Cardinals are coming off a seventh-place tie in the conference standings in 2010-11. … SMU's 5-9-2 MIAC?record included three wins and a tie against the top four teams in the conference. … Twelve of the Cardinals' 25 games were decided by one goal or less. … Austin Balko took the league by storm last season, being named to the MIAC?All-Rookie Team, after leading all conference rookies in scoring, recording 18 points in the team's 16 MIAC games. … The Cardinals scored three or more goals in nine of its last 11 games. … Kevin Wentland, an honorable-mention All-MIAC?selection a year ago, closed out the season as the team's leader in goals (12) and points (23), while Balko led the team in assists with 11. … Wentland's 12 goals are the most since Mike Glaesmer netted 15 during the 2007-2008 season, while his 22 points are the most since Anthony Bohn compiled 31 points during the 2007-2008 season. … Junior Tom Healy (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) finished second to Wentland in goals with eight, including goals in five of the team's last six games. …  SMU's 65 goals came from 21 players — including first collegiate goals from 13 different Cardinals. … Balko and Brad Denney finished the season as the top two freshmen scorers in conference play. … Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) appeared in 21 of the team's 25 games in goal, compiling a 4.16 GAA and an .887 save percentage. … Horstman, who finished with 646 saves, stopping a career-high 52 shots in the Cardinals' season-ending OT loss at Gustavus. … SMU's 2-0 win over St. Olaf on Jan. 14 — in which Horstman recorded his first collegiate shutout with 27 saves — was the Cardinals' first shutout since Ryne Ess and Curtis Nosal combined on a 19-save shutout in SMU's 5-0 win over Augsburg on Jan. 24, 2004. It was also just the second SMU shutout in the last decade. … As a team, the Cardinals were the least penalized team in the MIAC (10.8 penalties per game), while SMU's 24 percent on the power play (16-for-66) was tops among the nine conference teams. … Eight of SMU's 17 losses came against nationally ranked teams.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2010-11 Final Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
The Tommies are coming off a second-place MIAC?finish a year ago. … The Tommies, who have posted 29 straight winning seasons, qualified for the MIAC?Tournament for the 26th time in the event's 26-year history, falling to Concordia 4-2 in the semifinals. … UST?returns 21 players from last year's squad, which earned the No. 2 seed in the MIAC?tourney. Gone, however, are two of the Tommies' top three scorers — All-MIAC?First-Teamer Andrew Kappers and Rob Johnson. … Kappers led UST in all three offensive categories — goals (13), assists (21) and points (34), while Johnson was second in goals (10) and third in points (17). … Riley Horgan, coming off an First-Team All-MIAC?sophomore season a year ago, is the Tommies' top returning point-getting (9 G, 15 A, 24 Pts), while captain Robby Philipp (9 G, 8 A, 17 Pts) and Matt Lipinski (8 G, 7 A, 15 Pts) are also back. … Geoff Sadjaki and Tyrone Simcoe shared time in goal a year ago, combining to post a 2.54 goals-against-average — ranking second in the MIAC?and 18th in NCAA?Division III. … The Tommies scored first in 14 of their 26 games a year ago, going 11-2-1. UST?was just 3-8-1 when its opponent scored the game's first goal.

St. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2010-11 Final Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
The Oles are coming off a sixth-place finish in the MIAC?a year ago, closing out the season with back-to-back wins over Saint John's. … When the Oles take the ice this seaosn, they will be without the services of leading scorer Isak Tranvik, who led the team in both assists (18) and points (23) during his senior year in 2010-11. … Despite the loss of Tranvik, the Oles do return six of the seven players that recorded 10 or more points last season. … Defenseman Derek Grogan earned All-MIAC?First-Team honors a year ago, recording eight goals and nine assists for 17 points. … Peter Rohn was the team's goal-scoring leader a year ago with 11 and was second to Tranvik with 21 points. … The graduation of All-MIAC?First-Teamer Nick Krause leaves a void between the Pipes for the Oles. Krause appeared in 20 of the team's 25 games a year ago, owning a 2.41 GAA?and a .914 save percentage. … St. Olaf lost just four times when scoring the game's first goal (9-4-2). … Six of the Oles' 11 wins came on their home ice. … The Oles played eight overtime games a year ago — including five in a seven-game stretch — going 1-3-4. … Sixteen of St. Olaf's 25 games in 2010-11 were decided by one goal or less.