FAIRFIELD, CT. – After taking nearly three weeks off from competition, the St. Catherine University hockey team is back and better than ever. The Wildcats will play their first series of the new year, as they travel to the east coast to take on Sacred Heart University this upcoming weekend.

The first game between St. Kate's and Sacred Heart is set to take place Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans can tune in and follow the game via live stats, and score updates will be found on St. Kate's official Twitter account (@stkateswildcats). Saturday's game is set to begin at 4 p.m. EST, and live stats will again be available for that game.

Here are the five things to know before puck drop between the Wildcats and Pioneers:

2 – Friday evening's game will be the second meeting between St. Kate's and Sacred Heart. The Wildcats have registered one loss to the Pioneers early in program existence, according to available records.

5 – Junior forward Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) led all St. Kate's players in all offensive statistics but two at the end of the first semester. Through 10 games, Muller leads the Wildcats in points (5), goals (4), game-winning goals (1), hat tricks (1) and shots (42). The junior is also one of only two student-athletes to record a multi-point game this season.

27 – While Muller was the top offensive player overall for St. Kate's during the first half of the season, two defensemen led the charge for the Wildcats on the power play. Junior defenseman Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / John Marshall) and MacKenzie Ess (Burnsville, Minn. / Apple Valley) led the team in both shots and power play goals in the first half of the season, combining for 27 shots and two goals. They've also been part of the defensive wall that has given up just five power play goals to opponents in 45 power play opportunities.

1^st – Senior goalie Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) ended the first half semester leading the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in saves, both overall (280) and against conference opponents (180). So far this season, Pechacek has allowed just 22 goals and faced a conference-high 302 shots faced, accounting for a .923 save percentage. That currently ranks fifth in the MIAC, which has been a highly-offensive league in 2017-18.

4:53 – First year forward Ashlyn Rakos (Waconia, Minn. / Holy Family) was the last Wildcat to score a goal in a 2-1 loss to St. Thomas on November 17. Rakos scored at 4:53 in the first period of that game.