Box Score

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2		3

Game Summary / GameDay Online

GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second time in the season's first 13 games, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team squared off against the nation's top-rankied team.

And, for the second time in the season's first 13 games, the Cardinals took the nation's top-ranked team into overtime.

Unfortunately, this time around, the game didn't end in a tie.

Matt Boyd broke in alone on SMU goalie Dan Smith (Rochester, Minn.), and beat the senior three minutes into the five-minute OT period, as St. Norbert escaped with a 3-2 victory Friday evening.

"It's a tough loss to swallow — we played right with them the entire way and made one mistake (in overtime) and (St. Norbert) took advantage," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team's first experience with the nation's top-ranked team — UW-River Falls — ended in a 4-4 tie. "This was a game that easily could have gone either way. I guess on the positive side, we've squared off against the top team in the nation twice, and both times we've taken them to overtime."

After a scoreless first period, in which the two teams managed just five shots on goal — St. Norbert held a 4-1 advantage — the Green Knights got their offense on track, scoring back-to-back powerplay goals from Boyd and Marc Belanger two minutes apart, to take a 2-0 lead into the game's final period.

The Cardinals made the most of those final 20 minutes, getting a pair of powerplay goals of their own — the first by Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.) and the other by Jeff Miller (Portage, Mich.) to force the overtime period.

"I don't know what it is about the second period, but we spent way too much time in the penalty box (in the second period)," said Olson, whose team was whistled for 13 penalties — including eight in the second period. "The first period was pretty even, but we really let them gain a lot of momentum by taking all those penalties in the second period.

"I was glad we were able to regain that momentum (in the third period," said Olson, whose team returns to action Saturday, traveling to Lake Forest for a 7:30 p.m. nonconference game. "Overall, I was very pleased with the way we played — it was a great college hockey game.

"We just weren't able to get the end result we were hoping for."