By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — After kicking off the season with an exhibition loss against UW-Stout on Oct. 18, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team got another shot at the Blue Devils Friday evening.
And the Cardinals made the most of it.
Saint Mary's erupted for five goals — equaling their season-high — as the Cardinals won their second straight, routing the Blue Devils 5-1 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
UW-Stout struck first, netting the lone goal of the first period when Peter Verstegen beat Cardinal goalie
Al Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) midway through the opening frame.
The Cardinals would draw even, 1-1, at 11:25 of the second period — thanks to
Alex Rickoff's (Winona, Minn.) first collegiate goal, a blast from the point that eluded Blue Devil goalie Brady Meyers.
Seth Kamrass (Peachtree, Ga.) and
Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) picked up assists on Rickoff's career goal No. 1.
Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, scoring his fifth of the season with just 1:08 before intermission. Rickoff added to his list of collegiate firsts — picking up an assist on Stoynich's goal for his first career two-point game — while
Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) was credited with the other helper.
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up
Ian Currie (Franklin, Tenn.) pushed the Cardinal lead to 3-1 at 9:26 of the third period, with
Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) and
Alex DiBacco (Darien, Ill.) also finding the back of the net to round out the Cardinal scoring.
Rogers made 21 saves between the pipes for the Cardinals — including nine in both the first and second periods — while Meyers kicked out 25 of Saint Mary's 30 shots on goal
The Cardinals (7-6-1 overall) close out the nonconference portion of their schedule on Saturday, welcoming nationally ranked UW-River Falls to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Opening face-off is set for 7:30 p.m. The Blue Devils (4-11-1 overall), meanwhile, are back on the road on Saturday, heading to St. Olaf Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. nonconference matchup against the Oles.
