Box Score

	vs.
4		4

Game Summary / GameDay Online

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — UW-River Falls entered Tuesday's nonconference game against the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team ranked No. 1 in the latest USCHO.com – and the West Region's only unbeaten team.

They left W.H. Hunt Arena the same way.

But just barely.

UW-River Falls scored three times in the third period — the last time with 24 seconds remaining in regulation — as the Falcons escaped with a 4-4 nonconference tie against the Cardinals.

"It's a little disappointing, and the guys are feeling pretty down, because we had definitely put our selves in position to pick up a huge win — and win that really would have boosted our confidence," said SMU coach Don Olson. "I thought we played very well — especially in the second period. We had them right where we wanted them and let them slip away."

After spotting the Falcons a 1-0 lead 34 seconds into the second period, the Cardinals' offense went to work, as Sean Geiger (Woodridge, Ill.), David Gross (Grasston, Minn.) and Adam Gill (Rochester, Minn.) all would find the back of the net before the second period was over.

And, when Gill netted his second of the game two minutes into the third period, the Cardinals had what appeared to be a commanding 4-1 advantage.

Unfortunately, for the second time this season, the Cardinals couldn't make the three-goal lead stand up.

Derek Hansberry kicked off UW-River Falls' third-period comeback, beating SMU goalie Dan Smith (Rochester, Minn.) for his eighth goal of the season just two minutes after Gill's second tally. Jordan McIntyre made it a one goal game four minutes later, and Pat Gorgestad tied it with his team-leading 11th of the season with 24 seconds left on the clock.

"We did everything we had to do in the last minute," said Olson, whose team has now had the lead at some point in six of their seven games this season, but have just one win and two ties to show for it. "And then (Gorgestad) tries to get one last desperation shot off and it hit the stick of one of our players and trickled between Dan's pad and the near post.

"It really was a tough way for them to tie it."

It was the play of Smith between the pipes that gave the Cardinals any hope of pulling off the upset, as the Cardinals senior stopped a career-high 55 shots — including all 17 in the first period when SMU was outshot 17-2 and 25 more in the third when the Falcons peppered the Cardinal net with 28 shots.

"Dan played great — defensively, I thought we played very well," said Olson, whose team falls to 1-4-2 overall, and returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Nov. 30, when they travel to St. Peter, Minn., to take on Gustavus in the first game of their two-game conference series. "We did a lot of very good things tonight — but there's no question everyone in that locker room is disappointed. This is a tough (tie) to swallow."