By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — When it comes to facing Saint John's this season, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team can't seem to buy a goal.
 
Coming off a 7-0 loss to the Johnnies in Friday's opening game of their two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series—not to mention falling to SJU 1-0 in their season-opening meeting at the MIAC Hockey Showcase—the Cardinals entered Saturday's rematch without a goal in six straight periods against Saint John's.
 
Unfortunately, while they were not shut out for a third straight time against SJU, the Cardinals would manage just one goal—a second-period tally by Luke Seper (Lakeville, Minn.)—as the Johnnies dealt Saint Mary's a 4-1 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
After a scoreless first period—thanks in part to the 14-save effort of Saint Mary's goalie Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.—the Johnnies did not waste any time breaking the deadlock, scoring 38 seconds into the second stanza on a goal by Brady Heppner.
 
Heppner would then set up SJU's second goal of the period, feeding a pass to Ryan Kero, who beat Nast for a 2-0 SJU lead at 9:48.
 
After seven-plus scoreless periods against the Johnnies, Saint Mary's finally found the back of the net less than three minutes after Kero's tally, as Seper netted his first collegiate goal—off assists from Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) and Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) to cut the deficit to 2-1.
 
Saint John's regained its two-goal advantage three minutes into the third period on a goal by Sean Lang, and Tyler Dunagan pushed the Johnnie lead to 4-1 with his third of the season at 7:59.
 
Nast, making his third collegiate start, finished with 21 saves, while Mac Berglove stopped 36 of the Cardinals' 37 shots.
 
The Cardinals (1-3-1 MIAC, 3-7-1 overall) close out the 2017 portion of their schedule on Wednesday, hosting Lawrence in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.