GENEVA, Ill. — After dropping a 6-3 nonconference decision to Aurora on Friday night, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team was determined to make a statement in the teams' rematch on Saturday.
 
Message delivered—with authority.
 
The Cardinals erupted for a season-high 11 goals—including five in the second period—in cruising to an 11-2 victory over Aurora and a split of the teams' nonconference series at the Fox Valley Ice Center.
 
"This is what should have happened last night—maybe not 11-2, but last night (a 6-3 Aurora win) was just not indicative of the team we have, " said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore, whose Cardinals' offensive output was its highest since netting 14 in a 14-3 rout of Concordia during the 2007-08 season. "I'm proud of the way the guys responded today—we came out and played the way we are capable of playing.
 
"Everyone was disappointed with last night's (6-3) loss and I'm just glad the guys came out and responded the way they did."
 
Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.), Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) and Michael Cimba (Wilmette, Ill.) all scored first-period goals for the Cardinals—McGlasson scoring for the third straight game, while Wasell's tally was his second in as many nights—as Saint Mary's raced out to a 3-0 first-period lead.
 
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
 
Joey VanAntwerp (Farmington Hills, Mich.) made it 4-0 early in the second and Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.), Cimba and Kyle Blondin (Kent, Wash.) followed suit to push the Cardinals' lead to 7-0.
 
Aurora finally got one past Saint Mary's goalie Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) with just over five minutes remaining in the second, but Gruse pushed the Cardinals' lead back to seven, 8-1, with a short-handed tally before the period ended.
 
Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) didn't waste any time making it a 9-1 game, scoring his first of the season just 15 seconds into the third period, then added his second of the game nine minutes later. Johnny Morales (Torrance, Calif.) joined the goal parade with his first as a Cardinal to make it 11-1, before Aurora closed out the scoring with its second of the game with 3:31 remaining.
 
Heinle finished with 23 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while a pair of Spartan goalies combined to stop 29 Saint Mary's shots.
 
The Cardinals (3-5-2 overall) are now off until Sunday, Jan. 4, when they travel to the Kern Center in Milwaukee, Wis., for a 5 p.m. nonconference game against Milwaukee School of Engineering.