Box Score STEVENS POINT, Wis. — It wasn't the win that Saint Mary's University men's hockey coach Bill Moore was hoping for  — but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

After giving up 19 goals combined in back-to-back season-opening losses to St. Scholastica (9-1) and UW-Superior (10-3) last weekend, the Cardinals held UW-Stevens Point to just three goals Friday evening at K.B. Willett Arena.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, three goals was more than enough, as Pointer goalie Thomas Speer stopped all 16 shots he faced in propelling UW-Stevens Point to a 3-0 nonconference victory.

“No one's happy with a loss, but the effort was much better tonight than it was last weekend,” said Moore, whose team gave up single goals in all three periods, including an empty-netter with four seconds remaining in the third. “The guys came out and played with a sense of urgency tonight — that was something I didn't see from this group last weekend.”

The Pointers got all the offense they would need five minutes into the opening period, as UW-Stevens Point's Russell Law beat SMU goalie Scott Pederson (Lake Villa, Ill.) on the powerplay.

UW-Stevens Point pushed that advantage to 2-0 six minutes into the second period, then iced the win with Sean Fish's empty net tally at the 19:56 mark.

“We're getting better, no doubt about that,” said Moore, whose Cardinals (0-3-0 overall) is back in action Saturday, traveling to Eau Claire, Wis., for a nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire. “We had a couple of good chances, we just couldn't convert them.”