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STEVENS POINT, Wis. — As if playing one of the top teams in the Northern Collegiate Athletic Conference was not tough enough, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team squared off against red-hot UW-Stevens Point a bit shorthanded.

In fact, shorthanded may be putting it mildly, as the Cardinals' lineup against the Pointers was minus six regulars.

And UW-Stevens Point took advantage, scoring two goals in the first and never looking back in handing SMU a 4-0 setback in the teams' final nonconference game of the season.

“I thought we played pretty well tonight — especially considering how depleted out lineup was,” said SMU coach Bill Moore. “Give our guys credit — they played hard from start to finish.

“The key now is, we have to get healthy had and be ready for next weekend and the rest of the conference schedule.”a

Jerry Freismuth got the Pointers on the board at 13:38 of the first period, and Joshua Daley and Kyle Heck added second period goals to give the Pointers a 3-0 advantage — not to mention a 21-6 cushion in shots on goal — after two periods.

Dylan Wizner pushed the Pointers' lead to 4-0 five minutes into the third period and Nick Graves made it stand up, stopping all 11 SMU shots in handing the Cardinals their second shutout loss in their last three games.

The Cardinals (5-8 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action next weekend, as SMU squares off against Bethel in a two-game conference series. SMU hosts Bethel in a 7:30 p.m. showdown on Friday at the SMU Ice Arena on Friday, then travels to Blaine, Minn., for the conference rematch on Saturday at the Schwan's Super Rink.