MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — They did it again.
 
And again … and again.
 
For the third straight Friday evening, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team did not allow a goal, as the Cardinals picked up their third straight win—and eighth in their last nine games—shutout out Augsburg 5-0 at the Ed Saugestad Ice Rink.
 
"We played very well tonight—from start-to-finish," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore, whose team had blanked Gustavus and St. Olaf by identical 3-0 marks the previous two Fridays. "Obviously this is a big win—any time you can steal a win on the road, it's big.
 
"But the guys played hard and they deserved the outcome they received."
 
The Cardinals needed 15 minutes to get their engines warmed up—and once they did, it was as easy as 1-2-3 … and four and five.
 
Kellen Wassell (Edmonds, Wash.) got Saint Mary's on the board at 15:53 of the opening period to break the ice—and open the floodgates.
 
Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) would follow with a goal 62 seconds later, and Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) got into the act with his fifth of the season just 26 seconds after Albergo's to give Saint Mary's a 3-0 cushion heading into the locker room after one period.
 
Albergo added his second of the game midway through the second period, as the Cardinals took a commanding 4-0 advantage into the game's final period. Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals, netting his second of the season, an unassisted tally at 13:06.
 
While his teammates were busy lighting the lamp at one end, Cardinal goalie Phil Heinle was once again doing his picture-perfect rendition of a brick wall at the other—stopping all 34 shots he faced for his third shutout in six starts.
 
"Phil played extremely well," praised Moore of his sophomore netminder. "The nice thing was, we were able to give him some offensive support—scoring five goals against a very good Augsburg team was huge."
 
The Cardinals (6-3-2 MIAC, 11-7-2 overall) and Auggies head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for the second game of the teams' two-game conference series. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.