By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
STEVENS POINT, Wis. — As if playing a pair of games against the 15
th-ranked team in the country to kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play wasn't tough enough, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team decided to climb 14 rungs up the national rankings ladder Friday evening.
A week after a pair of nail-biting battles with No. 15 St. Thomas last weekend, the Cardinals stepped out of MIAC play on Friday to take on UW-Stevens Point — the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
And the Cardinals gave the Pointers all they could handle.
A goal by Drew McLean three minutes into the third period, however, proved to be the difference, as UW-Stevens Point held off the Cardinals 3-2 at K.B. Willett Arena.
"I thought we played really, really well," said Saint Mary's coach
Bill Moore, whose team has now played five regular-season games, with three decided by one goal or less — and the other two decided by two goals (each with an empty-netter). "I thought we started a little slow — I don't know if we were intimidated by their No. 1 ranking or what, but once the guys realized they were every bit as good as (the Pointers) were, they settled down and played much better.
"It's tough to lose a game like that, but the guys battled hard and left it all on the ice."
The Pointers got off to a quick start, getting back-to-back goals from Steven Quagliata and Carter Roo four minutes apart to take a 2-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.
Tyson Liverance (Burford, Ontario) cut the deficit to one, 2-1, with his team-leading fourth goal of the season — a power-play tally assisted by
Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.) and
Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) — at 5:37 of the middle period.
UW-Stevens Point regained its two-goal edge, 3-1, on McLean's goal at 3:29 of the third period, but the Cardinals were not about to go down without a fight, as
Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) scored for the second straight game — just 10 seconds after McLean's tally — to once again make it a one-goal game.
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as UW-Sevens Point held off Saint Mary's down the stretch to ice the victory.
Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.) finished with 32 saves in goal for the Cardinals — including 17 in the first period — while Connor Ryckman finished with 22 saves for the Pointers.
The Cardinals (0-4-1 overall) are back in action on Saturday, traveling to Hobbs Ice Arena in Eau Claire, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against No. 10 UW-Eau Claire.
