Box Score Game Summary vs. UW-EC / GameDay Online

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team entered Saturday's nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire searching for its first win of the season — while also hoping to get its offense on track, having scored just three goals (all in the third period of a lopsided, 10-3 loss to UW-Superior last Saturday) in its first three games.

UW-Eau Claire, meanwhile, was off to its best start since 2004-05, coming into Saturday's showdown with an unblemished 4-0-0 record — including a 6-0 shutout of defending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff champion St. Thomas on Friday.

Unfortunately for Cardinal coach Bill Moore, both teams continued heading in the same direction, as UW-Eau Claire  erupted for three goals in the third period en route to a 6-2 nonconference victory over SMU at the Hobbs Ice Center.

The Blugolds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, getting a goal from D.J. Clark just 58 seconds into the first period, and then a second tally by Andrew Johnson 10 minutes later. Matt Staehely (Shorewood, Ill.) broke SMU's scoreless drought at 14:11, netting the first of his two goals, to cut the Cardinal deficit to 2-1 at the end of the opening 20 minutes.

Staehely then pulled the Cardinals even, 2-2, netting his second of the game and third of the season three minutes into the second period. The Blugolds' Clark took a page our of Staehely's book with his second of the game at 11:49 to put UW-EC back on top, 3-2 heading into the third period.

Things just went from bad to worse for SMU over the final 20 minutes, however, as Clark completed his hat trick, while Sean Garrity added his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the first six minutes of the final stanza to give UW-Eau Claire a 5-2 edge. Ross Janezyk pushed UW-EC's lead to 6-2 with his first of the year at 11:57 and the Blugolds never looked back in pushing their season-opening winning streak to five straight — and keeping SMU winless four games into the 2008-09 season.