Game Summary

DEPERE, Wis. — It's bad enough at the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team had to open its season against St. Norbert — a team that reached the NCAA Division III Final Four a year ago.

Add to that the fact that the Green Knights already had three games under their belt, and the task that faced the Cardinals Friday evening was even more intimidating.

St. Norbert showed why they were among the elite a year ago — and why they are currently ranked No. 2 in the latest College Hockey Online poll – as the Green Knights scored the game's first five goals en route to a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.

Jason Deitsch and Jeremy Mitchell scored three minutes apart midway through the first period to give St. Norbert (3-0-1) a 2-0 advantage after the game's first 20 minutes. Spencer Carbery added a powerplay goal at 9:48 of the second period to make it 3-0 and Sheldon Wing and Faron Duthie pushed that cushion to 5-0, before SMU finally got the board on Al Schumacher's (Oakdale, Minn.) goal with less than six minutes remaining in regulation.

Ryne Ess (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 25 saves for the Cardinals, while Eric Van Den Bosch stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced for St. Norbert.