DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The No. 15 St. Scholastica men's hockey team will open the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Harris Cup playoffs Wednesday night at Mars Lakeview Arena when it faces Lawrence University (Wis.) in the quarterfinals.
 
Where:
Mars Lakeview Arena – Duluth, Minn.
 
When:
Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
Live Video/Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
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#15 St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 14-8-3, 12-7-1 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
 
Last Action: For the first time this season the Saints were swept in a series as No. 3 Adrian College (Mich.) won 5-4 on Friday night and rallied from a two-goal deficit to win 4-2 on Saturday … Friday's contest featured 104 combined penalty minutes … Saturday's loss was the second time in the last six games, the Saints failed to win a game it led at the second intermission … The two wins gave Adrian the No. 1 seed in the Harris Cup playoffs.
 
Harris Cup Schedule: Adrian and St. Norbert College (Wis.) have byes into the semifinals and will host a two-game (mini-game, if necessary) semifinal round this weekend … The playoffs will be re-seeded after Wednesday's contest, meaning the lowest remaining seed will head to Adrian … Marian University (Wis.) hosts Concordia University (Wis.) in the other quarterfinal … If Marian and the Saints were to win, the Saints would travel to Adrian … If Concordia Wisconsin wins and CSS advances, the Saints head to St. Norbert.
 
Bruce/Nowakowski on Fire: Senior Keegan Bruce (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham HS (Weyburn-SJHL) ) has recorded a point in 14 of the last 16 games, including the last five consecutive games … Since the calendar turned over to 2016, Bruce has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points … Not to be out-done, Dylan Nowakowski (Calgary, Alberta/Centennial HS (Brooks-AJHL) ) has recorded at least one point in 10 of the last 12 games … He has eight goals, 10 assists for 18 points during that span … Bruce (17) and Nowakowski (14) rank first and second, respectfully in the NCHA in power-play points.
 
Postseason Success: The Saints have advanced to the NCHA Tournament semifinals eight times in the last nine seasons … The last time they failed to do so was in 2011 … That was also the last the Saints entered the postseason on a winless streak of at least four games.
 
Special Teams Success: The Saints continue to have the best power-play unit in the conference and are fourth nationally with a success rate if 27.6 percent.
 
Penalty Minutes: The Saints and Vikings rank first and second in the NCHA in penalty minutes this season … The Saints averaged 16.0 minutes per game and the Vikings 14.8 minutes.
 
D3Hockey.com Team of the Week: The Saints have had three players named to the D3hockey.com Team of the Week … Keegan Bruce (Bellingham, Wash./Bellingham HS (Weyburn-SJHL) ) on February 9, Brandon Millin (Port Moody, British Columbia/Heritage Woods HS (Notre Dame Hounds-SJHL) ) on November 16 and Tyler Bruggeman (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS (Austin-NAHL) ) earned the accolade the week of November 23.

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Upcoming Opponents
Lawrence Vikings
Record: 9-13-3, 8-9-3 NCHA
 
The Vikings needed to win last Saturday, after falling on Friday night and seeing MSOE get swept by St. Norbert, to get into the playoffs … With the score tied at 3-3 entering the third period against Lake Forest College (Ill.), who was also playing for a playoff berth, the Vikings scored three goals in the third period to clinch a postseason spot … Lawrence finished 6-5-0 at home this season, but was only 2-7-3 on the road … The Vikings enter Wednesday 1-5-3 in the their last nine road games … Senior forward Renato Engler leads the team with nine goals, 16 assists and 25 points … Senior Brandon Boelter is ranked fifth in the NCHA among defensemen with 16 points … Junior goaltender Mattias Soderqvist has a .902 save percentage and a 3.48 goals-against-average … The Vikings are 6-0-1 when leading at the first intermission and 0-10-0 when trailing.
 
Series History: CSS leads 12-2-1
 
Last Meeting: The Saints swept the Vikings in Appleton on January 22 and 23 by scores of 6-2 and 3-1 … Dylan Nowakowski (Calgary, Alberta/Centennial HS (Brooks-AJHL) ) recorded three goals in the series sweep … CSS is 5-0-1 all-time at home against Lawrence … This will be the first-ever postseason meeting between the two programs.

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Looking Ahead: The NCHA Harris Cup Semifinals will take place on Friday and Saturday at either Adrian or St. Norbert.