Box Score  | GameDay Preview

ADRIAN, Mich. — A year ago, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team went 2-2-0 against teams ranked in the USCHO.com Top 10 — including a 2-1 overtime win over eighth-ranked Milwaukee School of Engineering and a 3-2 victory over sixth-ranked St. Norbert.

In fact, the Jan. 7 victory over St. Norbert — in which SMU goalie Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) kicked out 18 of his 32 saves in the third period — was the last time the Green Knights would lose en route to their second straight national championship.

Horstman was back between the pipes on Saturday when the Cardinals set their sights on knocking off another nationally ranked opponent — squaring off against third-ranked Adrian.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals — despite Horstman's gallant 41-save effort — it was the Bulldogs who left Arrington Ice Arena with it's unbeaten record still in tact, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period in beating SMU 7-3.

"I thought we played OK in spurts, but overall I wasn't very happy with the way we performed," said SMU coach Bill Moore. "If we want to compete at the national level, we've got to compete against teams that are there now — and we didn't do that tonight.

"I don't know if we were intimidated by (Adrian's national ranking) or waht, but we did not put our best effort on the ice tonight, and that's a litlte disappointing."

Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) got the Cardinals on the board first, rifling a shot past Adrian goalie Scott Shackell for the unassisted tally — his team-leading sixth of the season — at 9:28. Balko's goal came just minutes after Shackell stoned the Cardinals' Brad Fusaro (Kenai, Alaska) on a breakaway.

Adrian — after failing to get any of their first first-period 10 shots past Horstman — would knot things up at 14:23 of the opening period, as Shaquille Merasty beat the Cardinal senior from just inside the faceoff circle.

The Bulldogs would add a power play goal three minutes later by Lukas Ciotti and took that one-goal, 2-1 advantage into the locker room after the game's opening 20 minutes.

Adrian added its second power play goal in a six-minute span, as Justin Basso beat Hostman high to the glove side four minutes into the second period to push the Bulldogs' lead to 3-1.

The Cardinals kicked their special teams into high gear just a minute after Ciotti's second tally, as Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) unloaded a slap shot from the point that eluded a screened Shackell and pulled SMU to within a goal, 3-2.

And, just seconds after killing off an Adrian power play, the Cardinals got the equalizer as Justin Videen (Meridian, Idaho) beat James Hamb — who replaced Shackell at 8:47 of the second — with his first collegiate goal to make it a 3-3 game with six minutes left in the middle frame.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the game didn't stay tied long, as Ciotti tallied his second goal of the game at 15:29 to put Adrian back in front for good, 4-3.

SMU had a pair of golden opportunities late in the period to even things up, but Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) was thwarted on a penalty shot and Marx was stymied on the doorstep, as Adrian clung to its one-goal advantage heading into the game's final 20 minutes of regulation.

And, unfortunately for the Cardinals, the third period was all Adrian.

The Bulldogs grabbed a little breathing room as Zach Graham scored his team-leading sixth of the season five minutes into the third period to make it a 5-3 game — and over the final 15 minutes, Josh Ranalli and Merasty would also find the back of the net to seal Adrian's season-opening seventh straight win.

Horstman recorded 17 of his 41 saves in the first period, while Shackell and Hamb combined to make 18 saves in goal for the Bulldogs.

The Cardinals (4-3-0 overall) are back in action on Sunday, traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich., for an exhibition game against the U.S. National Development U18 Team. SMU then returns to MIAC play on Friday, Nov. 30, hosting St. Olaf in a 7:30 p.m. game at the SMU Ice Arena.