Box Score

	vs.
14		3

Game Summary / GameDay Online

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Getting the lead has not been a problem for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team.

Ih fact, heading into Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia, the Cardinals had held the lead at some point in seven of their nine games.

Yet, all SMU had to show for it was a 2-5-2 overall record.

And when Matt Staehely (Shorewood, Ill.) scored four minutes into Friday's conference tilt, the Cardinals once again were playing with a lead.

Only this time, they weren't about to let it slip away.

SMU erupted for a season-high 14 goals — including the first collegiate hat trick by Morgan Shepherd (Brainerd, Minn.) and two goals from Staehely and Anthony Bohn (Spring Hill, Fla.) — as the Cardinals routed Concordia 14-3.

"I don't know what it was — we just kept shooting the puck and they kept going in," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team has now won two straight — thanks to their highest offensive output since Feb. 9, 1988, when the Cardinals beat UW-La Crosse 17-3. "We probably had eight highlight-reel goals. It was just one of those nights when everything seemed to go our way."

SMU raced out to a 5-1 first-period lead, as SMU sandwiched goals by Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.), Shepherd and Bohn between a pair of tallies by Staehely.

And the offensive onslaught continued in the second period, as SMU scored six more times — including two from Shepherd — before closing out the scoring with three third-period goals.

"This was a good win for us, but they key now is bouncing back and putting together another solid effort (Saturday)," said Olson, whose team squares off against the Cobbers again Saturday at 2:05 p.m. in the second game of their two-game conference series. "There are two important (conference) points out there (Saturday), and we can't afford to sit back and relax.

"We played extremely well tonight, but it won't mean a whole lot if we don't back it up (Saturday)."