DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica men's hockey team will have its final two-game Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) home series of the regular season this weekend when it faces St. Norbert College (Wis.) beginning on Friday at Mars Lakeview Arena.
Where:
Mars Lakeview Arena – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Friday at 7 p.m.
Saturday at 5 p.m.
(Senior Night)
Live Video: https://csssaints.com/watch
Live Stats: https://csssaints.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSMHockey
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https://instagram.com/css_menshockey
Facebook:
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 5-14-1, 3-12-1 NCHA
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-CSS will recognize its six seniors prior to Saturday night's contest.
-The Saints are coming off a pair of losses at nationally-ranked Lake Forest College (Ill.) last weekend.
-The Saints are looking to win their first January game since upending No. 1-ranked St. Norbert on January 20, 2018
-CSS is still just two points behind Lawrence University (Wis.) for third place in the North Division and just one point ahead of Finlandia University (Mich.) for fourth.
-The top four teams from each division make the NCHA postseason tournament.
-CSS, St. Norbert and Finlandia are the only teams in the North Division to have just four league games remaining, while Lawrence and Marian University (Wis.) have six NCHA games left.
-Junior captain
Nate Pionk (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS (Minot-NAHL)) has taken over the team lead in points at 14, thanks to a team-best 10 assists.
-Fellow junior
Carson Rose (Surrey, British Columbia/Elgin Park Secondary (Weyburn-SJHL)) has registered a team-best nine goals, but no other Saint has more than four.
-CSS has had to use four different goaltenders due to injury this year and have been without senior
Zane Steeves (Red Deer, Alberta/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame (100 Mile Wranglers-KIJHL)) since early January.
-CSS is hopeful to have Steeves back before the end of the season.
-The Saints rank fourth in the conference on the penalty kill with an 82.5 percent success rate.
What You Need to Know about St. Norbert:
Record: 10-8-2, 8-6-2 NCHA
-The Green Knights are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games after starting the season uncharacteristically slow.
-Through November, St. Norbert was just 3-7 and was swept by Lake Forest and Marian.
-However, the Knights have come on since then with just an overtime loss to 14
th-ranked Adrian College (Mich.) and have already clinched a postseason spot.
-St. Norbert is atop the North Division standings, just two points ahead of Marian, who has also clinched a tournament berth.
-A key to St. Norbert's turnaround has been freshman goaltender Colby Entz, who has started nine of the last 11 games and ranks second in the conference with a 1.95 goals-against-average and a .929 save percentage.
-The Green Knights are led by junior Peter Bates, who has a conference-best 31 points thanks a team-high 19 assists.
-Senior Kurt Black leads the NCHA with 16 goals.
Series Record: SNC leads 56-14-4
(Last Meeting: 6-5 SNC – 2/1/2019)
Series History: The Saints are 1-8-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Green Knights, however that win and tie both took place at Mars Lakeview Arena … Each of the last five meetings in Duluth have been decided by a goal or less.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will have their final conference games of the regular season next week when they take on Finlandia University (Mich.) in a home-and-home series. It begins at Mars Lakeview Arena on Thursday, February 6.
