Game Summary

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — Through the first seven games of the season, Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Al Schumacher (Oakdale, Minn.) have been a two-man wrecking crew for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team.

Schumacher has scored the goals — a team-leading nine heading into the weekend series against Bethel — while Damerow has been the generous one, dishing out a team-leading 11 assists.

And in the first game of their MIAC series against Bethel Friday, Schumacher and Damerow were at it again, as Schumacher scored twice and Damerow tallied one assist in lead the Cardinals to a 4-2 victory.

In SMU's eighth game, the Cardinals' dynamic duo finally got a little help.

The Cardinals got scoring from four different players — including a pair of goals in the third period to break a 2-2 tie — as SMU completed its sweep of Bethel with a 4-2 win on Saturday.

"The third period was the difference for us all weekend," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team scored three times in the third period of Friday's win. "I didn't think we played exceptionally well, but we never got down and we kept battling.

"We did what we had to do — especially in the third period — and that was good to see."

Ryan Holland (Winona, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board first Saturday, scoring five minutes into the second period. Bethel knotted the game at 1-1 three minutes later, and Colin Emans (Hutchinson, Minn.) and Behtel's Sean Molin traded goals over the periods final eight minutes as the two teams headed into the third period tied 2-2.

"We had much more balanced scoring (Saturday)," Olson said. "We are a much deeper team (offensively) than we have been in the past. We need everyone contributing if we are going to be successful."

And they need to continue to pour it on in the third period.

B.J. Gaustad (Portland, Ore.) and Schumacher both beat Bethel goalie Tony Ciro in the game's final 20 minutes as SMU swarmed the Royals' net, outshooting Bethel 15-9 in the third period.

"Our performance in the third period has been outstanding," said Olson, whose team has now scored its opponents 20-8 in the third period. "I don't know what it was this weekend, we just seemed to need the first two periods to wake up, and then we stepped it up a notch in the third.

"We need to get that sasme type of effort in the first two periods."