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GameDay Preview
ST. PETER, Minn. — Another day, another game decided by one goal or less.
And so it went for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team Friday evening against Gustavus, as the Cardinals played their 14th game this season decided by a goal or less
Thanks to some late-game heroics by
Nick Gorup (Omaha, Neb.), Friday's game had a better ending for the Cardinals, as SMU rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits — and got a goal from Gorup with 15 seconds remaining in regulation — to lift SMU to a 4-4 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tie with the Gusties at Don Roberts Ice Arena.
“It's nice to get something for the effort,” said SMU coach
Bill Moore. “It would have been nice to come away with a win, but we'll take the tie — especially after the way we started.”
The Cardinals struggled out of the gate ¬— and the Gusties made them pay, scoring three times in the game's opening period to take a 3-1 advantage.
Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) netted his team-leading eighth goal of the season to account for SMU's first-period tally.
Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) got the Cardinals to within a goal, 3-2, with his seventh of the season late in the second period, but the Gusties regained their two-goal advantage on a goal by Gustav Bengston four minutes into the final period.
From there, the Cardinals in general — and Gorup in particular — took over, as the Cardinal sophomore scored the first of his two goals at 13:15 to make it a 4-3 game, then added his second of the evening with 15 seconds remaining to pull the Cardinals even.
Neither team could light the lamp in the five-minute overtime, as the Cardinals put an end to its six-game losing streak with its second tie of the season and fourth overtime game in 21 contests.
Andy Scheib (Sun Prairie, Wis.) finished with 31 saves for the Cardinals ¬— including 12 in both the first and second periods — while John McLean kicked out 27 SMU shots, 22 of which came after the first period.
The same two teams will square off again on Saturday, as the Cardinals host Gustavus in a 7:30 p.m. MIAC contest at the SMU Ice Arena.
