This Week: The Saint Benedict hockey team remains in nonconference action this weekend, taking on the No. 9 ranked University of Wisconsin-Superior in a home and home series. The Blazers and Yellowjackets will first meet in St. Cloud on Friday night (Jan. 10) for a 7 p.m. match-up, and then on Saturday (Jan 11), the puck drops at 7 p.m. in Superior, Wis. The Blazers enter at 4-7-0 on the season, while the Yellowjackets are 9-2-4 on the year.
 
About the Yellowjackets: They come into the weekend ranked No. 9 in the country and riding a six-game unbeaten streak, having gone 4-0-2 since Dec. 7. In their first action after the break, they swept Finlandia by a combined score of 9-3. They are unbeaten against MIAC teams this season, going 4-0-1 in five games, which includes a 2-1 win and a 2-2 tie against perennial favorite Gustavus back in early November. On the season they are averaging 3.4 goals per game, while giving up just 1.6. Eight players have double-digit point totals already on the season, led by Dani Schultz with 19 (9G/10A) and Karen Larson with 15 (8G/7A).
 
Last meeting: These teams last met on Jan. 15 and 16 during the 2009-10 season, with the Yellowjackets taking the series sweep. With both games played in Wisconsin, UWS won the first game 5-0, and came back a day later to complete the shutout sweep with a 2-0 win.
 

L, 5-0 @ UWS	L, 2-0 @ UWS

The Storyline: Can the Blazers keep up with the Yellowjackets in the scoring column? UWS enter the weekend as the 10th highest scoring team in the country, and is one of just 14 teams to average better that 3.0 goals per game. The Blazers have shown an ability to score in bunches this season, including their six goal effort their last time out. They may need to pour on the scoring again, as the Yellowjackets have scored at least four goals in three of their last four games.
 
Who to Watch: Stephanie Kirk (Minnetonka, Minn.) leads the team with 10 points on eight goals and two assists, and is the reigning MIAC Player of the Week after a three-point effort in the Blazers 6-5 win at Concordia Wisconsin last weekend. Fellow rookie Elli Marvin (Shoreview, Minn.) leads the team with five assists, while adding two goals for seven total points. A third first-year who is making an impact has been Maddie Rainey (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) who has three goals and two assists for five points, while leading the team in plus-minus with a +3 on the season.

Stephanie Kirk	Elli Marvin	Maddie Rainey

 
Last Time Out: Last weekend the Blazers split on the road at Concordia Wisconsin, in their first action back since the break. The weekend started out well, as the Blazers scored first on Friday night and had a quick 1-0 lead. But it would not last as the host Falcons scored three unanswered for the come-from-behind 3-1 win. A night later the Blazers again scored first, but this time continued to score – racking up six goals – and never let the Faclons take the lead. The Blazers never led my more than two goals, but never trailed, on their way to a 6-5 win. Five different players scored for the Blazers with Stephanie Kirk scoring twice and adding an assist to win MIAC Player of the Week honors.