Box Score  | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's hockey coach Bill Moore is learning a thing or two about Cardinal sophomore Jonathon Elliott (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.).

And if there's one thing the SMU coach has learned above all else, it's that Elliott loves to play on Friday nights.

Last Friday, Elliott recorded the first multiple-point game of his collegiate career, assisting on two of SMU's three goals in its 4-3 conference loss to Saint John's.

And a week later, he was at it again.

Elliott scored his first collegiate goal midway through the first period in helping the Cardinals to a 2-1 nonconference win over Lake Forest at the SMU Ice Arena.

"I thought we had a number of players step up and play well tonight — and Jonathon certainly was among them," said Moore, whose team has now won two straight in improving to 4-5-0 overall. "Give our penalty kill a ton of credit, they did an outstanding job all night long.

Elliott broke a scoreless deadlock at 8:07 of the first period, breaking around the Lake Forest defender, faking to his forehand and pushing a backhander past fallen Forester goalie Billy Cooper for collegiate goal No. 1.

Scott Deur (Big Rapids, Mich.) pushed SMU's lead to 2-0 midway through the second period, taking a feed from Bobby Thompson (Centerville, Minn.) and rifling a shot past Cooper.

SMU — thanks in large part to its penalty killing abilities — maintained that two-goal cushion until Lake Forest finally found a way to get the puck past Cardinal goalie Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.). Jack Lewis picked up a loose puck in front of the Cardinal net and beat Gaffy to cut the SMU lead to 2-1 with 1:43 remaining in regulation.

And what a 1:43 it was.

The Cardinals were whistled for their seventh penalty of the game — and third of the third period — with 1:10 on the clock, and, with the Lake Forest net empty, actually had to play the final minute 6-on-4.

Fortunately, the Cardinal defense was up to the task, keeping the Foresters off the scoreboard in sealing their fourth win of the season.

"That was a nice win for us," said Moore. "I thought we played really well (last weekend in a conference split against defending MIAC regular-season co-champion Saint John's) and the guys just picked up where they left off.

"Hopefully we can keep the momentum rolling (Saturday)."

The Cardinals and Foresters square off again on Saturday, as SMU hosts Lake Forest in a 2 p.m. contest at the SMU Ice Arena.