By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MENOMONIE, Wis. — If Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team had any concerns that his squad might hit an offensive speed bump after erupting for nine goals in their conference split against Concordia last weekend, the Cardinals quickly put those fears to rest.
 
Very quickly.
 
Yet, it wasn't the quick start that carried the Cardinals to a nonconference win—it was a high-scoring finish.
 
Saint Mary's, which held leads of 3-0 and 4-1, broke a 4-4 tie with three goals in the game's final 14 minutes, as the Cardinals closed out the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 7-4 victory over UW-Stout at Dunn County Arena.
 
Saint Mary's did not wait long to get its offense rolling, as Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.), Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), and Jude Warner (Pickerington, Ohio) all scored first-period goals to give the Cardinals a 3-0 edge heading into the locker room after 20 minutes.
 
UW-Stout sandwiched a pair of goals around an Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska) tally in the middle period, giving Saint Mary's a two-goal, 4-2 edge heading into the final period.
 
And what a final period it proved to be, as the two teams combined for five goals in the final 20 minutes.
 
UW-Stout found the back of the net twice—on goals by Austin Jackson and Gavin Smith just over a minute apart before the third period was even four minutes old to pull the Blue Devils even, 4-4.
 
Saint Mary's, however, had an answer—in a big way.
 
Austin Arnold put the Cardinals ahead to stay at 6:00 of the third period, and just over a minute later, it was Kelvin Walz's (Woodbury, Minn.) turn to etch his name in the scoring column and Stang added his second of the game at 14:18 to seal the Cardinal victory.
 
Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) finished with 28 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Evan Bisek recorded 23 saves for the Blue Devils.
 
The Cardinals (5-10-2 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend with a pair of games against Gustavus. Saint Mary's and GAC square off at Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn., at 7 p.m. on Friday, before heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.