LAKE FOREST, Ill. — It wasn't quite the season-opener the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team was hoping for.
 
In fact, things could not have gone much worse for the Cardinals over the opening 40 minutes of Friday's nonconference matchup against Lake Forest.
 
The Foresters erupted for four goals in each of the first two periods — including three in the first eight minutes of the opening frame — and the Cardinals never got their offense shifted out of neutral in falling to Lake Forest 8-0 at Alumni Memorial Arena.
 
Ben Perkins got the Foresters off and running just 1:18 into the first period, and Jared Gerger would add Lake Forest's second goal just over two minutes later. Colin Bella pushed the lead to 3-0 at the 8:38 mark, and Connor Scahill would become the fourth different LFC goal scorer, finding the back of the net at 17:49.
 
The intermission did little to slow down the Foresters' high-octane offense, as Lake Forest would add four more goals — the second and third of the game from Scahill and tallies from Vabrizio Mazzarelli and Tyler Nielsen — to head to the locker room after 40 minutes with a commanding 8-0 advantage.
 
Saint Mary's would hold the Foresters at bay over the game's final 20 minutes, but were unable to generate any offense opening the season with the shutout loss.
 
The Cardinals (0-1-0 overall) are back on the road on Saturday, heading to the Kern Center in Milwaukee, Wis., on Saturday for a 3 p.m. nonconference game against Milwaukee School of Engineering.
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