DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's hockey team opens its fifth season as a program on Friday when it hosts Marian University (Wis.) in the first of a two-game Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) series at Mars Lakeview Arena.
 
Where:
Mars Lakeview Arena
 
When:
Friday at 4 p.m.
Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
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St. Scholastica Saints
Roster | 2013-14 Stats
2013-14 Record: 15-8-3, 12-4-2 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
 
The St. Scholastica women's hockey team fell one win short of capturing the NCHA regular season title last season … CSS also graduated its first-ever recruiting class and will have to replace those seven seniors … CSS will play 15 home games this season, including 10 straight at Mars Lakeview from mid-December to the end of January.
 
Who's Back: The Saints return 11 players from last season, including senior captains Nina Waidacher (Arosa, Switzerland/Wirtschaftschule KV Chur (ZSC Lions/Swiss U18 National)), Alex Blair (Drake, Saskatchewan/Lanigan Central HS) and Kaitlin Johnston (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater HS) … Waidacher became St. Scholastica's first-ever Olympic athlete and Olympic medalist when Team Switzerland captured the Bronze Medal at the 2014 Sochi Games … The three-time All-American missed nine games for the Saints last season due to the Olympics, but still led the team and tied for second in the NCHA with 22 goals … Blair is a two-time second team AHCA All-American at defenseman … Blair finished fifth in conference in assists in league games and fourth on the team in total points (21) … Johnston has split time between defenseman and forward during the last three seasons as she will be back at defenseman this season … Johnston recorded a career-best 10 points in 2013-14 … Junior forward Nikki Logergren (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Northern Stars)) finished third on the team last season with 10 goals … Forwards Taylor Guzzo (Silver Bay, Minn./William Kelley HS (UW-River Falls)) and Sierra Hanowski (Warroad, Minn./Warroad HS) each had four goals in their first seasons as a Saint in 2013-14 … Junior Kelly Ahlgren (Hayward, Wis./Hayward HS) and sophomore Madison Smith (Edmonton, Alberta/Vimy Ridge Academy (Spruce Grove Saints)), Brenna Smith (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley HS) and Ivy Smith (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake HS (St. Cloud State)) return on the blue line … In net, Lindsey Hartfiel (Big Lake, Minn./Buffalo HS) had a stellar freshman campaign as she was named All-NCHA and All-USCHO after leading the NCHA with 11 wins and 599 saves.
 
Who's Gone: The Saints graduated its first recruiting class that had been a major part in building the program … CSS had seven seniors depart … Michelle Fischer (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) finished with 74 career assists … Monika Waidacher (Arosa, Switzerland/Wirtschaftsschule KV Chur (Swiss National Team)) scored 36 career goals … The youngest Waidacher sister, Isabel Waidacher (Arosa, Switzerland/Graubunden Canton School (ZSC Lions/Swiss U18 National)), is also not returning this season after finishing with 15 goals and 23 assists last season.
 
Newcomers: Head coach Jackie MacMillan brought in 10 freshman and one transfer this season … The incoming class includes eight forwards, two defenseman and a goalie … Anja Kadijevic (Zagreb, Croatia/General HS (Lindenwood)) is a transfer from Division I Lindenwood and played for the Croatian National Team.
 
Closing in on 50: The Saints are one win shy of its 50^th as a program.
 
Win Improvement: St. Scholastica has seen its win total climb in each of its first four seasons
 
Early Season Success: The Saints went 7-0-2 in November last season.
 
Protect Home Ice: CSS had its best home record as a program in 2013-14 as it was 7-2-1 at Mars Lakeview Arena.
 
Converting the Power-Play: The Saints had one of the best power-play percentage in NCAA Division III history last season, converting at a .314 percentage clip … That was fourth-best all-time.
 
Top 5 Series to Watch
11/14-15 vs. St. Norbert
The Green Knights have eliminated the Saints for the NCHA Postseason Playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
11/21-22 – at Lake Forest
The Foresters are the defending NCHA regular season and tournament champions.
12/6-7 – at Adrian
The Saints recorded two wins vs. the Bulldogs for the first time in program history last season.
1/13 – vs. UW-Superior
The Bridge Rivals are 2-2-1 in the last five meetings.
1/16-17 – vs. UW-River Falls
The Saints have never beaten the Falcons.
 
NCHA Preseason Poll
1. Lake Forest: 34 points, 4 first-place votes
2. St. Scholastica: 32 (3)
3. Adrian: 26
4. St. Norbert: 22
5. Concordia: 15
6. Marian: 12
7. Finlandia: 6
 
Opponent this Weekend
Marian University Sabres
The Sabres finished sixth in the league last season and played spoilers to the Saints somewhat last season when they recorded their first win over CSS in January in Fond du Lac … Leading the way for Marian is senior forward Amanda Waigand, who tallied 18 goals and seven assists last season … In the Sabres' win over the Saints, she recorded a hat trick … Senior forward Nina Laurie led the team in assists last season with 12 … In net, senior Amanda Alexander and junior Ali Glazer saw the majority of play last season … Alexander had .896 save percentage and recorded three wins, while Glazer had a .895 save percentage and two wins.