By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — For the fourth consecutive game, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team took the ice Saturday evening against a nationally ranked team.
 
First, it was two games against 15^th-ranked St. Thomas to kick off the conference schedule — which ended in a 3-3 tie and a 5-3 loss.
 
Then it was Friday's nonconference showdown against the nation's No. 1-ranked team, UW-Stevens Point — a heartbreaking, 3-2 setback.
 
And Saturday, Saint Mary's squared off against unbeaten and No. 10 UW-Eau Claire.
 
Unfortunately, the Blugolds left the Cardinals still searching for their first win of the season, rattling off three unanswered goals — erasing an early 1-0 Saint Mary's lead — and dealing SMU a 3-1 nonconference setback at Hobbs Ice Arena.
 
"I didn't feel as good about our performance tonight as I did last night (against UW-Stevens Point)," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. "Special teams was really the difference in the game — (Eau Claire) scored two power play goals and one shortie, and we had one power play goal.
 
"We got great goaltending, we just weren't able to generate enough offense."
 
Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) got the Cardinals on the board first, scoring a power play goal at 16:45 of the opening period — his third in as many games — off assists from Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) and Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta), as Saint Mary's grabbed a 1-0 lead through the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
From there, however, it was all UW-Eau Claire.
 
UW-Eau Claire netted the equalizer with a power play goal of its own at 6:26 of the middle period, when Luca Kohls beat Saint Mary's goalie Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) to make it a 1-1 contest.
 
The deadlock did not last long, however, as the Blugolds added their second goal of the period — this one a shorthanded tally off the stick of Tyler Tomberlin at 13:00.
 
The Blugolds pushed their lead to 3-1 with their second power play goal of the evening, this one off the stick of Adam Parsells at 8:27 of the third period.
 
Rogers finished with a career-high 43 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Zach Dyment kicked out 20 of Saint Mary's 21 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (0-5-1 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend for a pair of games against nationally ranked Augsburg. Saint Mary's travels to Augsburg's Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, with the two teams heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.