Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — The second period of Saturday's nonconference game between the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team and UW-Stout was a like a heavyweight fight, with both teams trading punches.

Saint Mary's would score, the Blue Devils would answer.

The Cardinals would score again, and UW-Stout was right there again.

All told, there were six goals scored in the game's middle 20 minutes — three from SMU and three from UW-Stout — and the judges scored the round a draw.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Rounds 1 and 3 went to the Blue Devils, as UW-Stout score single goals in both the first and third periods in handing SMU a 5-3 setback at the SMU Ice Arena.

"We had more than our share of chances, there's no question about that," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team dropped its fifth straight in falling to 2-11-1 overall. "After playing five very good periods of hockey, we just seemed to run out of gas in the third period.

"When we needed our offense the most (in the third, trailing 4-3), there just wasn't anything left in the tank."

The Cardinals, coming off a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to seventh-ranked UW-River Falls on Friday — a game in which SMU gave up a goal on a penalty shot and another into an empty net — found themselves on the short end of a 1-0 game after one period against UW-Stout.

Gordie Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.) pulled SMU even with his first collegiate goal two minutes into the second period, but less than two minutes later, the Cardinals were trailing again as UW-Stout's Mike Kautz netted the first of his two goals.

Jim Becker (Lockport, Ill.) tied the game again, this time 2-2, with a short-handed tally at 15:27. Thirty seconds later, UW-Stout was back in front as Kautz netted his second of the night on the power play. SMU would land one more blow — a goal by Ryan Radke (Woodbury, Minn.) at 17:22, but once again the Blue Devils were quick to respond, scoring with 45 seconds remaining in the period to give UW-Stout a 4-3 cushion heading into the third.

The Blue Devils pounded the Cardinals with 13 third-period shots, finally landing the knock-out blow when Scott Sikkink tallied his second goal of the evening at the 6:32 mark.

"it's tough to lose a game like that," said Olson. "These guys played so hard all weekend — they put together a tremendous effort (Friday night against UW-River Falls), and played very well again tonight for the first two periods. When (Stout) scored that goal with 45 seconds to go in the (second) period, it just took all the wind out of our sails.

"I'm pleased with the effort, but pretty soon we've got to find a way to get rewarded for that effort."