By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — It's been a nail-biting start to the season for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team.
The Cardinals opened with a 3-1 loss to Gustavus — which including an empty net goal by the Gusties in the waning seconds — and then played back-to-back overtime contests in falling to Concordia (5-4) and tying #15 St. Thomas (3-3).
So it came as no surprise Saturday evening that the Cardinals were once again embroiled in another thriller.
Unfortunately for coach
Bill Moore and the Cardinals, Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch with the Tommies had the same heartbreaking ending as their first three games.
Trailing 2-0, the Cardinals rattled off three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation, only to have St. Thomas answer with three goals of their own — including the game-winner with 31 seconds on the clock and an empty-netter 26 seconds later — to lift UST to a 5-3 win at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
"I'm really proud of the way the guys battled back after a pretty flat first period," Moore said. "But pretty soon they are going to have to learn that we can't afford to play the way we are capable of playing for only 40 minutes — it's a 60-minute game, and we have to be at our best for all 60 minutes."
St. Thomas struck first, opening the scoring at 3:53 of the first period on a goal by Brett Gravelle, who picked up a loose puck in front of the Cardinal net and beat Saint Mary's goalie
Al Rogers (West Haven, Conn.).
The Tommies would continue to pepper Rogers, breaking through again at 13:05 of the period when Luke Radetic took a pass from John Peterson and rifled a shot over Rogers' right shoulder for his second goal of the season — and a 2-0 UST lead.
Neither team could find the back of the net in the middle period — thanks to the play of Rogers and his Tommie counterpart Andrew Rohkohl.
Rogers stopped all 10 UST shots he faced in the second period, while Rohkohl finished with eight stops — including a point-blank chance by the Cardinals'
Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) with just over a minute remaining to preserve the Tommies' 2-0 advantage heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
The Cardinals cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the third period, as
Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) netted his first goal of the season, banging home a
Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) rebound past Rohkohl just 1:57 into the final frame.
Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario) — who netted the first two goals of his collegiate career in Friday's 3-3 tie — picked the ideal time to net goal No. 3, as the freshman fired a laser past Rohkohl to pull Saint Mary's even, 2-2, with 8:30 remaining in regulation.
The deadlock did not last long, however, as the Cardinals grabbed their first lead of the game on a power-play goal by
Jack Hatton (Naperville, Ill.) less than two minutes after Liverance's tally to put Saint Mary's in front, 3-2.
St. Thomas didn't give the Cardinals very long to enjoy playing with the lead, as the Tommies' netted the equalizer when Gravelle's shot snuck past Rogers to make it a 3-3 game with less than four minutes remaining.
The Tommies — who scored the game-tying goal with 46 seconds left on Friday — struck again late on Saturday, netting the game-winner with 31 seconds on the clock, before Gravelle added his third of the game into an empty net 26 seconds later to ice the win.
Rogers finished with 30 saves for the Cardinals, while Rohkohl stopped 27 of Saint Mary's 30 shots for the Tommies.
The Cardinals (0-1-1 MIAC, 0-3-1 overall) hit the road for a pair of nonconference games next weekend, traveling to Stevens Point, Wis., for a 7 p.m. matchup against nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point on Friday, before heading to Eau Claire, Wis., the following evening for a second straight 7 p.m. showdown with a nationally ranked opponent —this time UW-Eau Claire.
