Box Score Game Summary / GameDay Preview

BLAINE, Minn. — With 11 players making their first collegiate appearance, Saint Mary's University men's hockey coach Bill Moore knew it was going to take a shift or two for his squad to get into the swing of things Saturday evening in their season opener against Augsburg.

Unfortunately for the SMU head coach, by the time the Cardinals were able to settle into any type of rhythm, they were already staring up out of a 3-0 hole, as the quick-striking Auggies scored three times in the game's opening six minutes en route to an 8-4 win over the Cardinals during the second day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Showcase at Fogerty Arena.

“It's disappointing to give up eight goals, but there were certainly some bright spots, too,” said Moore, noting that two of the Cardinals' four goals came from freshmen, while three others had at least one assist. “We had a ton of new people in the lineup and with that much inexperience, you are going to make your share of rookie mistakes.

“Augsburg's a good team,” Moore added. “They had the luxury of already playing once (in the Showcase, falling to Gustavus 2-1 on Friday) — and that certainly makes a difference.”

Joel Sauer got the Auggies on the board just two minutes into the opening period, and Nick Guran scored the first two of his three goals two minutes apart to give Augsburg a 3-0 lead six minutes in.

Tedd Falk pushed that advantage to 4-0 with his first of the season at 2:27 of the second period, before Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) finally got the Cardinals on the board three minutes later. The Auggies would sandwich goals by Maria Mjellei and Guran around Brad Denny's (Fishers, Ind.) first goal as a Cardinal, giving Augsburg a 5-2 cushion after two periods of play.

Both teams would score twice in the third period, with Brad Fusaro (Soldotna, Alaska) and Blake Zemaitis (Mount Prospect, Ill.) accounting for SMU's.

Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 17 saves for the Cardinals, while Augsburg's Jon Zitur kicked out 28 SMU shots.

The Cardinals are back in action on Sunday, taking on Gustavus in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Fogerty Arena during the final day of the three-day MIAC Showcase.