GENEVA, Ill. — When the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team took the ice Friday nigh for a nonconference game against Aurora, it had been two weeks since the Cardinals had last played a game.
 
And, unfortunately for coach Bill Moore, the Cardinals could not knock the rust off.
 
The Spartans scored four special teams goals—three power play tallies and a shorthanded goal—in dealing Saint Mary's a 6-3 setback at the Fox Valley Ice Center.
 
"It was not a very good performance on our part, that's for sure," said Moore. "We spent a lot of time in the penalty box, and were just never able to get into any type of rhythm.
 
"We allowed just four special-teams goals in our first eight games, and gave up four tonight—that's disappointing," Moore added. "Hopefully the guys learned a valuable lesson tonight—we have to come out, and play at our highest level, from start-to-finish every night.
 
"We didn't do that tonight and it cost us."
 
Aurora got on the board first on a goal by Michael Mikulan just two minutes into the first period.  Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.) got the equalizer for the Cardinals, netting his first of the season off a rebound at 9:08. AU's Rihards Marenis scored with less than four minutes remaining to give the Spartans a 2-1 edge after the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) scored for the Cardinals midway through the second period—his second goal in as many games—to pull Saint Mary's even, 2-2.
 
The deadlock did not last long, however, as the Spartans scored a pair of goals a minute apart—the first on the power play and the second shorthanded—to grab a 4-2 lead heading into the final period.
 
And the Spartans' offense wasn't done, scoring early in the third to push their lead to 5-2. Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) got the Cardinals within two with his third goal of the season at 10:09, but Aurora would tack on an insurance goal by Justin Gregory three minutes later to ice the victory.
 
The Cardinals (2-5-2 overall) get another shot at the Spartans on Saturday, as the two teams square off in a 7:15 p.m. nonconference game at Fox Valley Ice Center.