DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's hockey team begins its eighth season as a program on Friday with a single game this weekend at Augsburg University.
Where:
Ed Saugestad Rink – Minneapolis, Minn.
When:
Friday at 7 p.m.
Live Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/augsburg/
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSMHockey
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/csssaints
St. Scholastica Saints
2016-17 Stats
2016-17 Record: 14-11-2, 10-6-2 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
Season Outlook: The Saints return 77 percent of their roster from a season ago … CSS started to really gel towards the end of the season before being eliminated from the Slaats Cup playoffs in an epic double overtime mini-game at Lake Forest College (Ill.) …
Alexia Klaas (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Minnesota-Duluth)) was the team's leading goal scorer (15) and she is back for her junior season … Klaas led the team in scoring despite playing in only 21 of the team's 27 games … Senior
Emily Stegora (Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS (Minnesota State-Mankato)) is the team's leading returning point scorer after recording 14 goals and adding 12 assists for 26 points last season … The program's second leading career goal scorer
Abby Sawyer (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna HS) is back for one more season with the Saints … Sawyer scored 10 goals last season and has 36 in her career, including a program-best 10 game-winning goals … She scored a goal in five of the final six games of the season in 2016-17 … Another senior,
Mac Johnson (Monticello, Minn./Monticello HS (St. Cloud State)), has scored nine goals in each of the last two seasons with the Saints … Sophomore defenseman
Greta Nundahl (New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) had 13 assists during her freshman campaign … That was the most by a freshman defenseman in program history … Junior defenseman
Kennedy Houge (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) had 11 points last year after being named to the All-NCHA Freshmen Team in 2015-16 … Senior
Hailee Johnson (Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS) is also back in the blue line after missing the final 17 games of the last season due to injury … In goal, sophomore
Lexi Thomeczek (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph Academy (St. Louis AAA Blues)) moved in as the team's primary goaltender in the second half of last season and tied a program record with four shutouts and set additional single-season program records with a .941 save percentage and a 1.72 goals-against-average.
Coach MacMillan: As the only Head Coach in program history,
Jackie MacMillan leads the Saints into their eighth season … She has guided the Saints to the NCHA postseason six of the program's first seven seasons, including four conference semifinal appearances … MacMillan will hope to guide the Saints to win No. 100 this season as they enter the year 17 wins shy of that milestone.
Unbeaten in Season Openers: The Saints have never lost a season opener with a record of 5-0-2 … CSS has won the last two openers, including last year against Augsburg.
Better on the Road: The Saints were only 6-7 at Mars Lakeview Arena last season, but were 8-4-2 on the road … All four losses came against nationally-ranked top-10 teams.
Against the MIAC: St. Scholastica is 8-3-3 against the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) all-time.
Top 5 Games to Watch
11/10 – vs. Northland
The Saints will have their home opener and first-ever game against the Highway 2 rival LumberJills
11/17-18 – at Adrian
The Saints have their only meetings against the 2017 national runners-up and preseason conference favorite.
1/6 – vs. St. Thomas
CSS will have its first-ever meeting against the Tommies, who won the MIAC Tournament last season.
2/6 – at UW-River Falls
The Saints will be in search of their first win against the perennial power Falcons.
2/13 vs. UW-Superior
In the second meeting of the season between the Bridge Rivals, CSS has never beaten the Yellowjackets at Mars Lakeview Arena.
NCHA Preseason Poll
1. Adrian 78 points (6 first-place votes)
2. Lake Forest 76 (4 first-place votes)
3. St. Scholastica 65
4. Concordia Wisconsin 51
5. Marian 48
6. St. Norbert 46
7. Aurora 30
8. Northland 22
9. Finlandia 21
10. Trine 13
What You Need to Know about Augsburg:
-The Auggies went 19-8-0 last season and finished as runners-up in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) with a 14-4 league record.
-Augsburg finished the season winning six of its final eight games and fell to St. Thomas in the MIAC Championship game.
-Augsburg is picked to finish second in the MIAC this season, according to the preseason coaches' poll.
-The Auggies will have to replace three seniors that were All-MIAC selections last season.
-Returning will be All-MIAC junior defenseman Valerie Whichello, who led all league defenseman with 13 assists last year.
-Between the pipes will be honorable mention All-MIAC performer Rebecca Sonnek, who led the MIAC with a .944 save percentage a season ago.
-The Auggies had the best scoring defense in the MIAC in 2016-17, allowing just 1.44 goals per game.
-Sophomore Bridget Wagner is the leading returning goal scorer with eight goals in her freshman season.
-Augsburg was 18-1 last season when scoring the first goal, but only 1-7 when the opposing team scored first.
Series Record: CSS leads 2-0-2
(Last Meeting: 3-1 CSS – 10/28/2016)
Series History: The Saints defeated the Auggies 3-1 in Duluth to open the 20-16 season … CSS tied both meetings that took place at Augsburg during the 2011-12 season … St. Scholastica defeated the Auggies 3-0 to win its first-ever game on November 5, 2010.
Looking Ahead: The Saints begin conference play away from Duluth with a two-game series at Marian University (Wis.) on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4.
