ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University hockey team has been impressive in its first four games of the 2016-17 season. The Wildcats currently hold a 2-2 record, marking the first time the team has been .500 or better through the first four games of the season since the 2014-15 season.

This weekend, St. Kate's will leave nonconference play behind and instead will begin its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) season. The Wildcats will open a home-and-home series on the road Friday when they take on Augsburg College in their MIAC opener. It will mark the second consecutive season that St. Kate's and Augsburg have met in each team's respective conference opener, although this season, the Wildcats are hoping to take at least if not two games from the upstart Auggies.

Friday's game will begin at 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and both live stats and video will be available. St. Kate's will return home to Drake Arena on Saturday for the second game of the series, which will begin at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available for Saturday's game as well.

With Friday's puck drop fast approaching, here are the five things to know before the MIAC opener:

1 – The Wildcats have scored at least one goal in their games this season. In fact, St. Kate's has yet to be shutout this season, and have scored two or more goals in three of its first four games.

5 – Sophomore defender Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo) leads the team in points despite only scoring one goal this season. Thompson has scored one goal and recorded four assists to lead the team with five total points. She currently ranks second in the MIAC In points and leads the conference in assists.

3 – Augsburg is 3-1 this season with a 2-0 record at home. The Auggies recently swept Northland College at home by scores of 4-0 and 5-0. However, away from Ed Saugestad Rink, Augsburg's record is just 1-1 with a 4-3 win over UW-Superior and a 3-1 loss to St. Scholastica.

34.0 – The Auggies are averaging 34.0 shots per game this season and holding opponents to just 19 shots per game. Augsburg has also had five different players score at least two goals this season.

3 – The Wildcats scored 3 goals in two games against the Auggies last season, but it wasn't enough to overcome early goal deficits. St. Kate's lost 2-1 in the opening game of the series before Augsburg took the second game 4-2 on its home ice.