DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – Coming off a home-and-home sweep of Highway 2 rival Northland College, the St. Scholastica men's hockey team will have a pair of Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) games at home on Friday and Saturday.
Where:
Mars Lakeview Arena – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Friday vs. Aurora – 7 p.m.
Saturday vs. Lake Forest – 4 p.m.
Live Video Friday: http://www.csssaints.com/watch/?Live=58
Live Video Saturday: http://www.csssaints.com/watch/?Live=59
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/css/mhockey/
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSMHockey
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/csssaints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 2-0-0, 2-0-0 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-The Saints won their first two games of the season for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
-In that 2014-15 season, CSS won its first four games for only the second time in program history.
-The Saints had a perfect penalty-kill against the LumberJacks, not allowing a goal on nine Northland power-play opportunities.
-CSS is one of nine teams in NCAA Division III that was perfect on the penalty-kill last weekend and one of three that stopped nine opportunities.
-Junior
Seth Chumley (Cambridge, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret’s (Minnesota Iron Rangers-SIJHL)) scored his first two collegiate goals in Saturday's win.
-Sophomore
Dustin Cordeiro (Kitchener, Ontario/Elliot Lake Secondary School (Cochrane-NOJHL)) scored his first collegiate goal in Friday's win.
-CSS started two different goaltenders with sophomore
Zane Steeves (Red Deer, Alberta/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (100 Mile Wranglers-KIJHL)) earning the win Friday and freshman
Forbes Ploszaj (Gilbert, Arizona/Gilbert HS (Aberdeen-NAHL)) picking up the victory Saturday.
-St. Scholastica is 10-1-0 in its last 11 NCHA home games
-The Saints are two wins shy of their 500
th as a program.
NCHA Preseason Poll
1. Adrian 118 (8 first-place votes)
2. St. Norbert 114 (4 first-place votes)
3. St. Scholastica 95
4. Marian 78
5. MSOE 77
6. Concordia Wisconsin 73
7. Lake Forest 69
8. Northland 48
9. Aurora 45
10. Lawrence 43
11. Finlandia 16
12. Trine 16
What You Need to Know about Aurora:
-The Spartans went 0-1-1 last weekend, falling to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and tying the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
-Aurora was 4-14-2 in NCHA action last year and finished 10
th in the league.
-Senior defenseman Tony Pnewski had a goal and an assist last weekend.
-Four different Spartans recorded goals last weekend.
-Freshmen Josh Boyko and Gwillim Jake each started in goal with Boyko earning the tie.
-Aurora was 1-for-15 on the power-play, while opponents scored four power-play goals last week.
-2016-17 leading goal scorer Rihards Marenis is back for the Spartans, but did not play last weekend.
-Sophomore Liam Stirtzinger led the team with 13 points in his freshman season and had an assist last weekend.
-The Spartans were just 1-11-0 on the road last season.
Series Record: CSS leads 4-1-0
(Last Meeting: 4-3 CSS – 1/28/2017)
Series History: The Saints suffered its first-ever defeat to the Spartans last year in Illinois when the team's split a two-game series … CSS has allowed three goals against Aurora in four of the five meetings … The Saints swept the Spartans in their only trip to Duluth during the 2015-16 season.
What You Need to Know about Lake Forest:
-The Foresters went 1-1-0 last weekend, defeating the University of Wisconsin-Superior 4-2 in the season opener and then falling in overtime to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
-Lake Forest was 12-8-0 in league play a season ago and placed fourth overall in the league.
-Six different Foresters recorded goals last week.
-Junior forward Cody Guidorzi assisted on three of the six goals.
-Juniors George Argiropoulos and Louis-Philippe De Courcy each started in net with Argiropoulos earning the win.
-Lake Forest was 0-for-18 on the power-play last weekend.
-The Foresters have to replace 2016-17 NCHA Player of the Year Jack Lewis, who recorded 17 goals and 32 points last season.
-Junior forward Bron Loiselle was second on the team last season with 15 goals and 28 points; Loiselle recorded a goal last weekend.
-Lake Forest was 8-4-0 on the road last season.
Series Record: LFC leads 27-22-0
(Last Meeting: 5-3 CSS – 11/12/2016)
Series History: The Saints swept the Foresters last season at Mars Lakeview Arena by a pair of 5-3 scores … CSS has won the last five meetings against Lake Forest at home and have won the last three overall in the series.
Looking Ahead: The Saints begin a stretch of six consecutive games on the road beginning with a trip to Milwaukee to face both Concordia University Wisconsin and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) next Friday and Saturday.
