DULUTH, Minn. — The last time the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team played, it was Dec. 12, 2006, and the Cardinals suffered through one of their worst performances in years, coming out on the short end of a 10-2 decision at the hands of UW-River Falls.

The Cardinals may have closed out 2006 on a sour note, but they certainly rang in the new year in impressive fashion, scoring three times in the first period en route to a 3-1 nonconference victory over St. Scholastica Saturday evening.

"We played very well – certainly much better than the last time we played," said Olson, whose team snapped a four-game losing streak with their first win since a 2-1 victory over Saint John's on Dec. 2. "We had a few lapses here and there, but all-in-all, it was definitely a step in the right direction."

The Cardinals got all the offense they would need in the first period, as Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.), Morgan Shepherd (Brainerd, Minn.) and Karl Reinke (Duluth, Minn.) all scored to give SMU a commanding 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

Neither team scored in the second, and the Saints foiled SMU goalie Dan Smith's (Rochester, Minn.) shutout bid, scoring their lone goal with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

"We needed a game like this — a game in which we played up to our abilities, and did so for 60 minutes," said Olson. "We've still got a lot of hockey to play, and it's nice to get the second half of our schedule off on the right foot."