MENOMONIE, Wis. — After about a month off from games, the Saint Mary's men's hockey team kicked off 2026 at ranked No.15 ranked UW-Stout for the third time this season. The Cardinals (6-4-1) dropped the 4–1 nonconference decision to the Blue Devils (10-2-1) on Tuesday night, despite pushing hard in the final frame, ending the season in a split series.

The Cardinals came out with energy from the opening faceoff, generating early chances and keeping pressure in the offensive zone. Jake Cameron led the charge with several quality looks, while Saint Mary's earned two power-play opportunities in the first period. 

Despite sustained pressure, neither team was able to crack the scoreboard, and the period ended knotted at 0–0.

In the second period, the Blue Devils scored at 17:11 to give a 1–0 edge. Just over two minutes later, they extended the lead to 2–0. Saint Mary's continued to fire shots on goal but couldn't find a breakthrough before the intermission.

The Cardinals finally broke through early in the third period when Tyler Lafferty buried his first career goal as a Cardinal with a goal at 18:38, cutting the deficit to 2–1. It was Cooper Smyl who initiated the action forcing a turnover as he and Ryan Berglund picked up the assists, injecting new life into the Saint Mary's bench. 

Stout, however, responded quickly with two more goals to put the game out of reach.

Saint Mary's continued to battle, including another power-play opportunity, but couldn't close the gap. The Blue Devils finished with a 4–1 victory, outshooting the Cardinals 36–33.

Lafferty led Saint Mary's offensively with a goal on five shots. Cameron added an assist, took two shots, and won all of his faceoffs, while Berglund also recorded an assist and went perfect in the circle.

 In net, Logan Abric turned aside 32 shots in a strong effort for the Cardinals.

The team looks forward to conference play at the end of the week traveling to Gustavus Adolphus on Friday, Jan. 9 for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop.