Box Score Box Score |
GameDay Preview
SUPERIOR, Wis. — As if playing the ninth-ranked team in the country wasn't a daunting enough task, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team was forced to square off against UW-Superior with a patchwork lineup that was without four regulars from the night before due to injury.
But you would not have know by watching the Cardinals play, as SMU gave the Yellowjackets all they could handle, only to come up one goal short in dropping a heartbreaking 4-3 decision at Westmar Arena.
“Give the guys credit, the battled,” said SMU coach
Bill Moore, who was without the services of
Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn. / knee),
Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis. / knee),
Jimmy Becker (Wildomar, Calif. / shoulder) and
Austin Balko (Midland, Mich. / ankle). “To come back from a two-goal deficit like we did in the third period says a lot about this team.”
In a back-and-forth opening period that appeared to have the teams headed to the locker room scoreless, the Yellowjackets used a 15-second spurt to change that 0-0 stalemate into a 2-0 UW-Superior advantage.
Jeff Forsythe opened the scoring at 18:55 of the first, firing a slap shot that beat SMU goalie
Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) to the glove side. Fifteen seconds later, it was Andy Singerhouse who beat Horstman to give UW-Superior the two-goal advantage.
The Yellowjackets made it 3-0 at 7:27 of the second period on goal by Ryan Hill, before
Nate Peterson (Cadillac, Mich.) got the Cardinals on the board with a power play tally eight minutes later.
Tommy Robaczewski (Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored on a wrist shot from the blue line three minutes into the third period to cut the deficit to 3-2, and
Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) pulled the Cardinals even three minutes later with his first collegiate goal.
The Yellowjackets' Kyle Leahy broke the 3-3 tie with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, banging home a loose puck in from of Horstman for his second goal of the season.
Horstman finished with 25 saves in his second start of the season, while the Yellowjackets' Drew Strandberg kicked out 18 of SMU's 21 shots.
The Cardinals (0-4-0 overall) are back in action on Friday, traveling to Vadnais Heights, Minn., for their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against Hamline.
