DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's hockey team will face conference leader and No. 3-ranked Adrian College (Mich.) this weekend at Mars Lakeview Arena for a two-game Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) series.
Where:
Mars Lakeview Arena – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Friday at 4 p.m.
Saturday at 2 p.m.
Live Video/Stats: http://csssaints.com/ssn
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSWHockey
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www.instagram.com/csssaints
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 10-6-2, 7-3-2 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints recorded their second consecutive NCHA series sweep by taking care of Marian University (Wis.) 2-1 in both contests …
Alexia Klaas (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Minnesota-Duluth)) scored three of the team's four goals on the weekend, including recording the game-winners in both contests …
Lexi Thomeczek (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph Academy (St. Louis AAA Blues)) remained perfect on the year, making 26 saves in each victory.
Klaas Named POW: For the second straight week a Saint was named the NCHA Offensive Player of the Week with Klaas receiving the honor on Tuesday … Klaas has scored five goals in the last three games.
Unbeaten Streak: St. Scholastica's five-game unbeaten streak is its longest since it started the 2013-14 season on a 10-game unbeaten streak … The longest winning streak in program history is five games and the Saints enter the weekend on a four-game streak.
Another Solid Rookie Defenseman: Freshman
Greta Nundahl (New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) has six assists in the last three games and is second on the squad with 10 assists … Nundahl's 10 assists are second among freshmen defensemen in the league … All 10 points have come in NCHA action, which tied for third among all NCHA freshmen.
Nearly Flawless: Freshman goaltender
Lexi Thomeczek (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph Academy (St. Louis AAA Blues)) is 6-0-0 to begin her collegiate career, but she will face the team that has scored the most goals on her to date … Thomeczek has allowed only seven goals in over 440 minutes of action, but three of those seven came against Adrian back in November … She ranks fourth in NCAA Division III with a 0.95 goals-against-average and leads the nation with a .964 save percentage … However, this weekend will be her toughest match yet as a starter.
Who Will Win the Power-Play: The Saints rank seventh in the country, converting 24 percent of their power-play opportunities … However, Adrian ranks fifth nationally, converting 25 percent of their opportunities … Klaas and
Sierra Hanowski (Warroad, Minn./Warroad HS) have scored five goals apiece with the skater advantage, which is tied for fifth in NCAA Division III … Adrian's Kristin Lewicki leads the nation with seven power-play goals.
Where They Stand: With six conference games remaining, the Saints are comfortably in third place, six points ahead of Concordia (Wis.) and Marian … Concordia and Marian face each other this weekend … CSS is five points behind Lake Forest College (Ill.) for second and the Foresters also still have a two-game series with Adrian remaining.
Upcoming Opponents
#3 Adrian Bulldogs
Record: 17-2-0, 14-0-0 NCHA
The Bulldogs enter this weekend on an eight-game winning streak … Both of Adrian's losses this season have come against Plattsburgh State (N.Y.), who is ranked No. 1 in the nation … Adrian has been stellar defensively during the winning streak, recording three shutouts, including back-to-back shutouts against St. Norbert College (Wis.) last weekend … The Bulldogs feature the top three point scorers in the country as they are the top scoring team in the nation (6.05 goals per game) … Seniors Kaylyn Schroka (44), Sarah Shureb (42) and Kristin Lewicki (41) have all recorded over 40 points this season … Shureb leads the conference with 20 goals, while Schroka has a nation-best 26 assists … Lewicki has a conference-high seven game-winning goals … Defenseman Kelly O'Sullivan leads all freshmen in the conference and defensemen in NCAA Division III with 26 points … Senior Brooke Gibson and Jade Walsh have split time in goal … Both have a .912 save percentage with Gibson having a slightly better 1.53 goals-against-average … The Bulldogs are 15-0 when they record the first goal of the game and have only played in two one-goal games this season.
Series Record: Adrian leads 13-3-2
(Last Meeting: 7-2 Adrian – 11/18/2016)
Series History: Back in November, then No. 4 ranked Adrian rolled over the Saints by a final of 7-2 … It marked the 10
th straight time the Saints played a nationally-ranked Adrian squad, including the seventh straight time the Bulldogs were ranked in the top five … CSS has given up at least seven goals to Adrian on three occasions … Adrian is 8-0-1 in its last nine meetings against the Saints.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will have their final home games of the regular season when they face Concordia University (Wis.) for a two-game series on February 10 and 11.
