DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – For the first time since before Thanksgiving, the St. Scholastica men's hockey team will be back at Mars Lakeview Arena this weekend when it welcomes No. 8 Adrian College (Mich.) for the first time to Duluth.
 
Where:
Mars Lakeview Arena – Duluth, Minn.
 
When:
Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Saturday at 4:05 p.m.
 
Watch/Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 8-6-1, 5-3-0 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
 
The Saints are coming off an interesting weekend to say the least … Friday night saw the Saints lose a game, in which they had the lead after two periods of play for the second time in a week, in their 5-2 defeat at Saint Mary's University … Saturday saw the program's first 0-0 tie in the program history at Gustavus Adolphus College.
 
Recent Success vs. Ranked Teams: The Saints are 2-1-0 in their last three games against ranked opponents, including a 2-1 victory earlier this season at home vs. Saint John's University.
 
Home Winning Streak: CSS is 7-0-0 in its last seven games at Mars Lakeview Arena … The last loss was a 2-1 overtime setback against No. 1 St. Norbert College last season.
 
Simply Simpson: Freshman forward Luke Simpson (Canmore, Alberta/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (Canmore-AJHL) ) is fifth in the NCHA in rookie scoring, averaging 1.07 points per game … Since the calendar has turned over, Simpson has recorded at least one point in three of four games.
 
Penalty-Kill Struggles: Prior to Saturday night's tie, CSS has allowed seven power-play goals in its previous four games … In its last eight games, St. Scholastica is outscoring its opponents 18-11 when it's even-strength, but only 23-22 overall during that span.
 
Overtime Trend: The Saints have just one overtime winner in the past two-and-a-half seasons … CSS' record in overtime games during that time span is 1-4-6 … The Saints snapped a three-game overtime losing streak with their tie at Gustavus on Saturday.
 
Series History: Series tied at 1-1-1
 
Last Meeting: The Saints defeated the then-ranked No. 2 Bulldogs 4-3 in the NCHA Harris Cup Tournament semifinals … Tyler Bruggeman (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS (Austin-NAHL) ) stopped a career-high 41 saves in the victory.
 
 
#8 Adrian College Bulldogs
Record: 11-2-2, 8-0-0 NCHA
 
The league-leading Bulldogs make their first-ever visit to Duluth this weekend ranked eighth in the USCHO.com Division III poll and ninth in the D3hockey.com poll … Adrian made the trip out west last weekend and defeated Bethel University 7-3 before tying No. 3 UW-River Falls 1-1 on Saturday … Freshman forward Kyle Brothers is tied for the conference lead and second nationally with 24 points this season on 12 goals and 12 assists … In fact Adrian's top three point scorers are all freshmen and are ranked in the top six in NCAA Division III in rookie scoring … Freshman Taylor McCloy is second in the league with 14 assists … Between the pipes, senior Scott Shackell is third in the league with a 1.83 goals-against-average and second with a .935 save percentage … The Bulldogs have the third-best scoring offense in the country (4.8) … Adrian has played in only four games decided by two goals or less this season and are 4-0 in those contests.