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Thursday, Friday, Saturday |
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St. Thomas, Concordia, Gustavus Saint Mary's, Augsburg AT STAKE |
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Location: Winona, Minn.
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| Founded: 1912 |
| Undergraduate Enrollment: 1,350 |
| President: Brother Louis DeThomasis |
| Nickname: Cardinals |
| School Colors: Red and white |
| National Affiliation: NCAA Division III |
| Conference: MIAC |
| SID: Donny Nadeau |
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| Head coach: Duncan Ryhorchuk |
| Assistants: Anna-Marie Brickner |
| 2002-2003 record: 10-4-4 MIAC, 10-9-6 |
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The Cardinals locked up a spot in their third striaght Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament with a pair of victories over conference champion St. Thomas in the final weekend of the regular season. SMU finshed fourth in the standings with a 10-4-4 record.
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| Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) scored four of SMU's seven goals vs. St. Thomas last weekend — including the game-winner in each game of SMU's series sweep. … St. Thomas had not lost a conference game all season until meeting the Cardinals. … Saturday's overtime win was its first victory in eight OT games this season (1-1-6). … SMU has never lost to St. Thomas, improving its overall record to 11-0-1. … SMU enters the MIAC tournament as the defending champion, having defeated Gustavus 2-1 in last year's tournament final. … The winner of Thursday's game between SMU and Augsburg will face league-champion St. Thomas, while Gustavus and Concordia square off in Friday's other semifinal game. … SMU is making its third straight post-season appearance — the Cardinals placed second in the 2001 MIAC tournament and third in the AWCHA national tournament, then won the MIAC tournament and lost to Gustavus 2-0 in the inaugural NCAA Division III national tournament a year ago. … Kearns leads the team in goals (24) and points (27) and has scored in nine of SMU's last 11 games. … All 26 of Kearns' points have come in conference play, with her 24 goals tops in the MIAC. … Kearn's two-goal games vs. UST were her eighth and ninth multi-goal games of the season. … Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.) stopped 76 of the 81 shots she faced vs. UST, lowering her team-leading goals-against-average to 2.44 and raising her save percentage to .918. … SMU has been shutout in six of its nine losses. … The Cardinals' six ties are a single-season record and is just one short of the number of ties SMU had recorded in its first four years combined. |