By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — It wasn't the quantity of shots, but rather the quality that determined Friday's winner between the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and UW-Superior men's hockey teams.
 
The Cardinals outshot the Yellowjackets 22-5 in the first period — and trailed 1-0.
 
Saint Mary's held a 19-16 edge in shots on goal over the game's final two periods — and were outscored 4-2 over that span.
 
UW-Superior netted three unanswered goals — one in the waning seconds of the second period and two more in the third — as the Yellowjackets, despite being outshot 41-21, handed the Cardinals a 5-2 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Cardinals threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at UW-Superior goalie A.J. Smith in the game's opening 20 minutes, but the Yellowjacket senior was up to the task, stopping all 22 shots — including several of the acrobatic variety.
 
UW-Superior, meanwhile, managed just five first-period shots — with one slipping past Cardinal goalie Nick Nast (Oxnard, Calif.). Martan Yelle netted his first collegiate goal at 6:30 of the opening frame to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
 
The Cardinals may have come up empty in the first period, but they would not be denied in the second, getting a goal from Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.) at 2:06 — on their first shot of the period — to knot the game at 1-1.
 
UW-Superior had an answer, however, retaking the lead, 2-1, when Artur Techiyev rifled a shot over the glove of Nast just two minutes after Sikich's game-tying tally.
 
Saint Mary's would once again pull even, 2-2, at 11:56 of the middle period when Hatton rifled a slap shot that beat Smith cleanly for his fifth goal of the season — only to have UW-Superior's Jordan Martin score with 18.9 seconds remaining to give the Yellowjackets at 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
 
The Yellowjackets struck again six minutes into the third period when Daniel Litchke converted a 2-on-1 with Martin to push the UW-Superior lead to 4-2, and Will Blake made it 5-2 with an unassisted tally at 17:49.
 
Nast finished with 16 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Smith kicked out 39 of Saint Mary's 41 shots.
 
The Cardinals (1-9-3 overall) and Yellowjackets return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for the second game of their two-game nonconference series. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m.