Game Summary

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A week ago, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team's four seniors got to experience something they had never experienced before — what it felt like to beat pereniall MIAC powerhouse St. Thomas.

With last Friday's 6-2 victory, Ryan Stinson (Winona, Minn.), Bryan Trottier (Doylestown, Pa.), Peter Benecke (St. Louis, Mo.) and Eric Richardson (Skokie, Ill.) helped snap SMU's four-year, seven-game winless streak (0-6-1).

Unfortunately, getting the Tommies' monkey off their backs proved to be mere child's play compared to the gorilla that was still clinging there.

A gorilla in the form of a six-year winless streak against SMU's next opponent — Augsburg.

And when the dust finally settled on the weekend's MIAC series Saturday evening, the gorilla was still there (0-10-1), the Cardinals had been swept in a conferencce series for the first time this season, and SMU was in the midst of its first three-game losing streak of the season.

The Auggies, who beat SMU 4-2 on Friday evening, scored two goals in both the second and third periods — including two in a span of just over two minutes at the end of the second and beginning of the third periods — en route to a sweep-clinching 4-1 victory Saturday evening.

Nick Meeker (Rochester, Minn.) put the Cardinals on the board first, netting his xith goal of the season at the 12:24 mark of the opening period as SMU took a 1-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.

From there, however, it was all Augsburg, as the Auggies beat Richardson twice in the second period, including Nick Murray's goal with just 55 seconds remaining. Augsburg made it 3-1 just 1:35 into the third period, then iced the win with Chad Moore's goal at the 7:04 mark.

Richardson finished with 22 saves, while Augsburg goalie Peter Samargia was again the differnce-maker, stopping 31 of the Cardinals' 32 saves, giving him 68 saves in the two-game series as SMU held a commanding 71-49 advantgage in shots on goal.