WINONA, Minn.  — After giving up just one goal in each of its first four games, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team entered Friday night's nonconference game against nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point looking to continue its defensive dominance.
 
UW-Stevens Point, however, had other ideas.
 
The Pointers netted almost as many goals in the game's first eight minutes (three) as the Cardinals had allowed in their first four games combined—and Saint Mary's was not able to recover, falling to UW-Stevens Point 7-2 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Pointers kicked off their first-period offensive outburst at 5:15 of the opening frame, when Wesley Ashley beat Cardinal goalie Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) with a wrist shot for his first goal of the season.
 
That was just the beginning.
 
Luke McElhenie scored his team-leading fourth of the season just 1:19 after Ashley's tally, and Tanner Karty quickly made it 3-0 a minute later, giving UW-Stevens Point a commanding three-goal advantage heading into the locker room after the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
And the Pointers weren't about to take their foot off the accelerator, scoring three more times in the second period to push their advantage to 6-1.
 
Karty added his second straight goal at 5:10 of the second period and Drew McLean made it 5-0 at 15:45, before the Cardinals finally found the back of the net on an unassisted goal by Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) two minutes later. UW-Stevens Point would added its third goal of the period—and sixth of the game—just 25 seconds after Robertson's tally to make it 6-1 heading into the final stanza.
 
The two teams traded goals in the third period—Saint Mary's coming off the stick of Kyle Meeh (St. Louis, Mo.)—to round out the scoring.
 
Davis and Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) combined for 29 saves—Davis made 13 saves in 27:50, while Rogers stopped 16 shots in 32:10 of relief. UW-Stevens Point's Max Milosek, meanwhile, stopped 20 of the Cardinals' 22 shots.
 
 
The Cardinals (2-2-1 overall) are back on their home ice at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday, hosting 11^th-ranked UW-Eau Claire in a 7 p.m. nonconference game.