DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The No. 15 St. Scholastica men's hockey team will play its final two weekends of the regular season at home against top five nationally-ranked competition, beginning this week as No. 1 St. Norbert College (Wis.) visits Mars Lakeview Arena.
Where:Mars Lakeview Arena – Duluth, Minn.
When:Friday at 7 p.m.
Saturday at 4 p.m.
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www.facebook.com/css.saints #15 St. Scholastica SaintsStatsRecord: 14-5-2, 12-4-0 NCHANorthern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats Last Action: The Saints had to settle for a split with Concordia University (Wis.) last weekend, falling 3-2 in overtime on Friday night, but responding on Saturday with a 5-1 victory … The Saints led 2-0 on Friday before allowing a short-handed goal at the end of the second period and the game-tying goal very early in the third period … The Falcons then scored with eight seconds left in overtime … It was the first time this season, the Saints lost a game, when leading at the second intermission … On Saturday,
Keegan Bruce (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham HS (Weyburn-SJHL) ) had four assists and a goal in the 5-1 win.
CSS Clinches Postseason Berth: Despite the loss on Friday night, the Saints clinched a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Harris Cup spot and then with Saturday's win clinched no lower than second place in the NCHA North Division standings … If the Saints were unable to overtake the Green Knights for the top spot in the Division, they would host a NCHA Harris Cup first round playoff game on Wednesday, February 24.
Where They Stand: The Saints sit four points behind North Division leader St. Norbert heading into the weekend … Milwaukee School of Engineering holds a one-point lead over Lawrence University (Wis.) for the third and final postseason spot in the Division … Northland College is also right there only three spots out … Northland plays Lawrence this weekend, while MSOE still has to play St. Norbert … In the South Division, Adrian College (Mich.) and Marian University (Wis.) are tied at the top with 27 points each … Concordia (Wis.) and Lake Forest College (Wis.) are battling for the third and final playoff spot on that side.
8 Assists in 8 Days: Keegan Bruce (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham HS (Weyburn-SJHL) ) recorded his second four-assist game in the last eight days in Saturday's victory over Concordia … Four assists in a game has only been done four times prior to this season and Riley Riddell is the only Saint to do it multiple times, but not in the same season.
Hansen Streaking: Junior
Josh Hansen (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Unity Christian School (Chilliwack-BCHL) ) has recorded at least one point in six straight games … He had a three-game scoring streak snapped on Saturday, but has five goals and four assists in the last six games … Hansen has 15 points this season after having five points combined over the his first two seasons.
Special Teams Success: The Saints were 4-for-10 on the power-play over the weekend and continue to have the best power-play unit in the conference and jumped up to second nationally with a success rate if 28.7 percent … The Saints also rank fourth in the nation on the penalty-kill at 91.0 percent … Concordia was 0-for-8 on the power-play on Saturday … Combining the power-play and penalty-kill units, the Saints are plus-18, which is leads the conference.
D3Hockey.com Team of the Week: Bruce was the third Saint to be named to the D3hockey.com Team of the Week this season …
Brandon Millin (Port Moody, British Columbia/Heritage Woods HS (Notre Dame Hounds-SJHL) ) earned the honors the week of November 16 and
Tyler Bruggeman (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS (Austin-NAHL) ) earned the accolade the week of November 23.
Upcoming Opponents #1 St. Norbert Green KnightsRecord: 18-2-1, 14-2-0 NCHA Both of St. Norbert's losses have come at home this season with a 4-2 loss to Marian on the first weekend of the year and then a 5-4 setback to Adrian in January … The Green Knights have already played 13 road games this season and have a record of 12-0-1 in those games … St. Norbert swept Northland 4-1 and 3-0 in Ashland over the weekend … Saturday's win was head coach Tim Coghlin's 500
th of his career, making him the third-fastest to reach the 500-win milestone … The Green Knights have the top scoring defense in NCAA Division III, allowing only 1.29 goals per game … Freshman goaltender T.J. Black leads the nation with a 1.26 goals-against-average, while junior netminder Tony Kujava is ranked second with a 1.30 goals-against-average … The two have combined for five shutouts … Offensively, the Green Knights are ranked third in the country in scoring (4.71 goals per game) … Senior forward Erik Cooper leads the team with 16 assists and 24 points … Three different Green Knights have a team-high 11 goals … One of those is senior Michael Hill, who has 108 points in his career … Forward Riley Christensen is ranked sixth in the country among freshmen with 1.12 points per game … St. Norbert has out-scored teams 35-7 in the third period.
Series History: St. Norbert leads 49-13-3
Last Meeting: The Saints split with St. Norbert last season in De Pere … CSS has played the Green Knights when they were ranked No. 1 seven previous times and have a record of 1-6-0 … The lone win came on neutral ice in Wausau, Wisconsin in November of 2013.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will close out the regular season with a two-game home series against Adrian College (Mich.) at Mars Lakeview Arena on February 19 and 20.
