WINONA, Minn. — If there were any concerns that the Saint Mary's University and Lake Forest men's hockey teams had used up all their offensive ammunition after Friday's season-opening 10-goal barrage — which ended in a 5-5 deadlock, the Cardinals and Foresters quickly put those concerns to rest.
 
The two teams combined for nine more goals — including five in the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
This time around, however, it was the Foresters who accounted for the majority of the goals, scoring six times — including four unanswered goals to close out the scoring — as Lake Forest dealt the Cardinals a 6-3 setback Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The two teams set the tone early, scoring three goals in a span of 35 seconds before the game was even four minutes old.
 
Lake Forest struck first when Justin Ross beat Cardinal goalie Connor Close (Des Moines, Iowa) at 3:38 of the opening stanza.
 
Unfortunately for the Foresters, Ross's goal lit a fire under the host Cardinals, as Kasyn Kruse (Luverne, Minn.) found the back of the net just 13 seconds later, and, 22 seconds after Kruse's tally, Colin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) netted his first goal in aN SMU jersey to give Saint Mary's its first lead of the game, 2-1.
 
As was the case with Lake Forest after its early goal, the lead did not last long for Saint Mary's. Colin Beila beat Close on a Forester 5-on-3 power play to knot the game at 2-2 — with 12:30 still remaining in the first period.
 
The Cardinals took advantage of a power-play of their own late in the period, getting a goal from Laudon Poellinger (La Crescent, Minn.) — his second of the weekend — to put Saint Mary's back up in front at the intermission, 3-2.
 
After combining for five goals in the first period, the offensive fireworks fizzled out a bit in the second period — which was not good news for the Cardinals.
 
Lake Forest scored the only two goals of the middle frame — the first by Drew Shields at 7:11 and the second Beila's second of the game at 15:40 — to give the Foresters the one-goal, 4-3 edge heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
The Foresters picked up right where they left off in the third period, getting a power-play goal from Jared Gerger two minutes into the frame to give Lake Forest the first two-goal lead of the game.
 
Seven minutes later, the Foresters' advantage ballooned to three, as Shane Hathaway corralled a loose puck in front of Close and lifted a shot over the fallen junior to ice the Lake Forest victory.
 
Close finished with 36 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Nick Wiencek kicked out 23 of SMU's 26 shots — including all 12 in the third period.
 
The Cardinals (0-1-1 overall) are back in action next weekend, when they kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a pair of games against Hamline. SMU will head to TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Pipers on Friday, and the two teams will head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 7:05 p.m. rematch.
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