By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team entered Saturday's nonconference showdown with UW-River Falls flying high.
 
Equaling your season-high with five goals in a 5-1 win over UW-Stout the night before will do that to a team.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their high-octane offense was grounded by a stifling Falcon defense, as UW-River Falls — behind the stellar play of goalie Zach Quinn — pitched its second straight shutout, blanking Saint Mary's 4-0 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Falcons opened the scoring on a goal by Jackson Nauss at the 6:49 mark of the opening period, before adding back-to-back tallies from Cayden Cahill and Trey Bagwell five minutes apart late in the second period to take a 3-0 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play.
 
UW-River Falls — coming off a 4-0 win over St. Olaf on Friday — added its fourth of the evening at 13:13 of the third period on a goal by Chase Davidson in locking up its sixth straight win.
 
Al Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) finished with 14 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Quinn            stopped all 17 Saint Mary's shots en route to his second shutout in as many nights.
 
The Cardinals (7-7-1 overall) are back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action next weekend, facing off against Bethel. The Cardinals and Royals square off at 7 p.m. at Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., on Friday, before heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch. The Falcons (12-4-2 overall) return to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend with a pair of 7 p.m. games at UW-Stevens Point.