STEVENS POINT, Wis.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team steps out of conference play for a second straight night on Saturday, traveling to UW-Stevens Point's K.B. Willett Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown with the sixth-ranked Pointers.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-2-1 Overall) at UW-Stevens Point Pointers (3-1-0 Overall)
 
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Last Night:
• Saint Mary's: Saint Mary's: The Cardinals got goals from five different players, and goalie Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) finished with 39 saves, as the Cardinals dropped UW-Superior 5-2 in a nonconference game in Superior, Wis. | Recap
• UW-Stevens Point: Andrew Kolb scored the game-winning goal with 4:52 remaining in regulation to lift the sixth-ranked Pointers to a 3-1 non-conference win over St. Thomas at K.B. Willett Arena in Superior, Wis. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Stevens Point—Their Last Meeting:
• November 16, 2013: Saint Mary's did something no other team has been able to do against fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point—score first. In fact, the Cardinals not only scored the game's first goal, but they also netted its third, giving Saint Mary's a 2-1 advantage early in the second period—marking the first and only two times this season the Pointers had to play from behind. That 2-1 lead, however, quickly evaporated, as the Pointers rattled off four unanswered goals in handing the Cardinals a 6-4 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend, traveling to the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn., for a pair of matchups with Saint John's. Friday's game is set for 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee to follow on Saturday.
• UW-Stevens Point: The Points are right back on their home ice next weekend, hosting Lake Forest on Friday and Adrian on Saturday in a pair of 7 p.m. nonconference games at K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point, Wis.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Saturday' game against the Pointers is the second of seven straight road games for the Cardinals, who do not return home until Jan. 9-10, 2015, when they host St. Scholastica and Northland at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. … The Cardinals game vs. the Pointers marks the third time in their last four games that Saint Mary's has faced a nationally ranked team. … Friday's win over UW-Superior marked the first game this season not decided by two goals or less. … Saint Mary's five goals vs. UW-Superior came from five different players—including collegiate firsts from Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.), Jude Warner (Pickerington, Ohio) and Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.). … Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) and Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) accounted for Saint Mary's other two goals vs. the Yellowjackets. … The Cardinals now boast four players who have netted their first collegiate goals this season—Walz, Warner, Portner and Cesarz. … Cesarz's goal with 1:06 remaining in the first period vs. the Cobbers was officially the Cardinals' first goal of the season. … Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) had his three-game goal-scoring streak snapped vs. UW-Superior Friday, but the sophomore picked up a pair of assists and has now recorded at least one point in four straight contests. … Gruse, Cesarz and Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) share the team lead with three goals each, while Marx boasts a team-best three assists and Gruse leads the team with five points, one more than both McGlasson and Marx. … McGlasson recorded the second two-goal game of his career with a pair of goals vs. Concordia on Nov. 2. The senior also netted two goals against St. Olaf on Nov. 30, 2012. … Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) collected a season-high 39 saves in the Cardinals' 5-2 win over UW-Superior Friday. … Heinle, who has started all five games for the Cardinals, enters Saturday's game at UW-Stevens Point owning a 2.38 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage. … In his final start a year ago against Hamline, Heinle notched his first assist—marking the first time since Dan Byron during the 2000-2001 season that a Saint Mary's goalie has recorded an assist. … The Cardinals recorded their first second-period goal of the season against UW-Superior Friday—Saint Mary's has scored six goals in the first period and seven in the third. … Saint Mary's is unbeaten (2-0-1) when scoring first. … The Cardinals' 1-0 win in the shootout vs. St. Thomas last Saturday was its first shootout in the two years since the MIAC added it to the end of tied games prior to the 2013-14 season. Jonathan Elliott (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) netted the shootout winner for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals' 1-1 showing at the season-opening MIAC Hockey Showcase marked the third straight season Saint Mary's has gone 1-1 at the conference's season-opening event. Saint Mary's lost to Augsburg (6-2) and beat St. Olaf (3-2), while topping Bethel (7-2) and falling to Saint John's (8-1) in 2012-13. … Saint Mary's season-opening 2-0 loss to Augsburg on Oct. 31 actually snapped its three-game winning streak—the Cardinals had closed out the 2013-14 season with a 5-2 win over Concordia and 6-5 and 8-3 victories over Hamline.
 
Scouting The UW-Stevens Point Pointers:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Pointers enter Saturday's game against Saint Mary's ranked No. 6 in the latest USCHO.com national poll. … Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the fourth of six games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the Pointers. UW-Stevens Point has already faced Gustavus (W, 4-2), St. Olaf (L, 3-2), and St. Thomas (W, 3-1), and still have Augsburg and Hamline on their schedule. … Last Saturday's 3-2 loss to St. Olaf —despite outshooting the Oles 50-33—snapped the Pointers' season-opening two-game winning streak. … UW-Stevens Point scored a season-high 11 goals—including five in the game's first 5:01—in a season-opening 11-0 victory over Finlandia on Nov. 1. … Scott Henegar, Andrew Kolb and Lawrence Cornellier netted UW-Stevens Point's goals vs. St. Thomas Friday evening. … Cornellier has now scored a team-best four goals—two better than Henegar, Kolb, Joe Kalisz, Garrett Ladd, Nick D'Avolio, and Eliot Grauer—while Kevin Gibson has amassed a team-best five assists. … Kalisz and Gibson share the team lead in points with five each. … UW-Stevens Point's 20 goals have come from 11 different players, while 17 Pointers have notched at least one point. … Brandon Jaeger has started all four games in goal for UW-Stevens Point, compiling a 1.26 goals-against-average and a .944 save percentage. … Jaeger has stopped 84 of the 89 shots he's faced—including a season-high 33 against St. Olaf last Saturday. … The Pointers have outscored their opponents 9-1 in the first period and 9-2 in the third. … UW-Stevens Point has scored first in all three of its wins, while failing to net the game's first goal in its lone loss.