Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — The first game of the season always tells a lot about a team — and Friday's season-opener against UW-Eau Claire was no different for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team.

SMU coach Don Olson learned plenty from the Cardinals' showdown with the Blugolds — nothing more telling than the resiliency of his team.

The Cardinals rallied from deficits of 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3 to earn a hard-fought 4-4 nonconference tie vs. UW-Eau Claire at the SMU Ice Arena.

"If this team showed me one thing tonight, it's that they'll never give up," said Olson, who watched as Tom Stewart (Eden Prairie, Minn.) netted his first collegiate goal — and what proved to be the game-tying tally — with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. "It's definitely a resilient bunch, they showed me a lot tonight."

Not everything, Olson admitted, was to his liking.

"We made our fair share of mistakes, and we didn't take advantage of some of the opportunities that were put in front of us," said Olson, referring to SMU's inability to score on 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 powerplay opportunities — not to mention coming up empty on a five-minute powerplay awarded to the Cardinals with three seconds left in regulation when UW-Eau Claire's Mike Schneider was called for checking from behind. "We can't afford to give away chances like we did — those are opportunities that we need to cash in on."

The Cardinals rallied from a one-goal deficit with back-to-back goals from Tim McNamara (Hastings, Minn.) and Adam Gill (Rochester, Minn.) in the final two minutes of the first period and the first two minutes of the second, but the lead was short-lived, as Brooks Lockwood tallied his second of the game less than two minutes after Gill's to even the score at 2-2.

UW-Eau Claire went on top 3-2 on a shorthanded goal by Dan Fina at 9:21 of the second period, but Dave Gross (Grasston, Minn.) responded 45 seconds later as the two teams battled to a 3-3 deadlock after 40 minutes.

The Blugolds once again claimed a one-goal lead on Mike Schneider's goal early in the third period, but SMU once again stormed back, peppering UW-EC goalie Chris Nelson with 16 third-period shots — finally getting the equalizer off the stick of Stewart.

"It was a game that I thought we played well enough to win," said Olson, whose team is back in action Saturday night, traveling to UW-Stevens Point for a nonconference game. "There were a lot of positives out there tonight — it was a good start for us."