WINONA, Minn. — It was supposed to be a final tune-up for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team.

A weekend of nonconference action in which the Cardinals could make any last-minute adjustments before they dive into six straight weekends of conference play.

If their performance against UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point is any indication, the Cardinals didn't need much fine-tuning.

A tweak here or there, maybe, but that's about it.

Al Schumacher (Oakdale, Minn.) capped off yet another impressive weekend, scoring twice — including his NCAA Division III-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season — as the Cardinals completed their 1-0-1 weekend with a 2-2 tie against UW-Stevens Point Sunday afternoon.

"It was a good weekend for us," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team erupted for four second-period goals en route to a 6-2 win over UW-Eau Claire on Saturday. "We had almost a month off (due to the Christmas holidays), so there was a little rust we needed to work off, but overall I thought we played pretty well."

The Pointers certainly didn't waste any time trying to put a monkey wrench in the Cardinals' well-oiled machine, as Andy Corran beat SMU goalie Ryne Ess (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with a shot from the point 38 seconds into the first period.

Schumacher rallied the Cardinals with the first of his two goals midway through the period as the two teams headed into the locker room tied 1-1 after the opening 20 minutes.

Neither team was able to generate any offense in the second period, while Schumacher gave the Cardinals a short-lived 2-1 lead at the 10:38 mark of the third period. Zenon Kochan answered less than four minutes later to tie the game for a final time.

"We did some good things out there," said Olson, whose team moved to 9-3-1 with the tie. "Bbut I also thought there were times when we got a bit careless and got away from our game."

SMU may have shown a few signs of wear and tear against the Pointers, but it was smooth sailing the night before against UW-Eau Claire.

Chris Flaugher (St. Louis, Mo.) scored a pair of goals, while Schumacher, Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.), Colin Emans (Hutchinson, Minn.) and B.J. Gaustad (Portland, Ore.) also got into the scoring act.

"I was very pleased with our performance offensively," said Olson. "But our play wasn't as consistend as we would like, and we took some undisciplined penalties — and those are the little things that we can't afford to do."

Especially against teams like St. Thomas — the defending conference champion and SMU's first of six straight MIAC opponents.

"We know this is a big weekend, but in our conference every weekend is a big weekend," said Olson, whose team enters Friday's home game with a 3-1 conference mark. "St. Thomas is a very good team and we are going to have to play very well if we hope to beat them. But we can't get too charged up, either. We have to approach this series just like we approach every series — control what we can control, and that's how we perform on the ice.

"We can't worry about who our opponent is, we have to worry about making sure we put our best game out there for 60 minutes."

* THIS AND THAT: Al Schumacher (Oakdale, Minn.) scored three goals last weekend, pushing his team-leading total to 16. … The second of Schumacher's two goals vs. UW-Stevens Point Sunday was a shorthanded goal, giving him an NCAA Division III-leading five shorthanded goals. … After picking up assists No. 14 and 15 on SMU's first two goals vs. UW-Eau Claire, Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.) finally netted his first goal. Damerow added assist No. 16 vs. the Pointers. … Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.) stopped 25 shots in SMU's 6-2 win vs. UW-Eau Claire, while Ryne Ess (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 31 saves vs. UW-Stevens Point. … Six of SMU's nine wins have come at home. … SMU has outscored its opponents 31-16 in the third period. … Sunday's game vs. UW-Stevens Point was SMU's first overtime game of the season. … The Cardinals are 5-1-1 in their last seven games.