WINONA, Minn. — In a college hockey season that lasts nearly five months, every player is going to have an off night.

In fact, somewhere along the way, it's almost expected.

Last Friday at the SMU Ice Arena, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team had its off night — all 20 players.

At the same time.

The Cardinals started slow and never got out of first gear as Gustavus erupted for three goals in the second period and four more in the third en route to an 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win.

"I would have never imagined that in a million years," said SMU coach Don Olson of the loss, SMU's most lopsided defeat since a 10-1 drubbing at the hands of Augsburg on Feb. 11, 2000. "We were coming off a series (vs. St. John's) in which we lost two games, but played fairly well.

"I honestly expected us to come home, in front of our own fans, and really play well."

Just how bad was it?

SMU managed a season-low 18 shots on goal — including just three in the second period, when the Cardinals were outshot 15-3 and outscored 3-1 — and were shut out on the powerplay, where they managed just one shot in six powerplay opportunities.

"Give Gustavus credit, they played very well," said Olson. "We just were not connected mentally from the start. Gustavus came out, built a little momentum early and before you knew it, it looked like we were playing against 20 All-Americans, while we couldn't make a five-foot pass to save our lives."

Gustavus came out flying from the start, peppering SMU goalie Ryne Ess (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with 16 first-period shots, but had just a Keith Detlefsen powerplay goal midway through the period to show for their efforts.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals that first period — in which they were outshot 16-7 — was their best of the night.

Gustavus tallied two more powerplay goals among their three second-period tallies, then erupted for four third-period goals — all four in the first 4:19 of the period and all four coming on GAC's first six shots.

"It's disappointing," said Olson. "I can't explain it — everyone's entitled to an off night, but you can't have all 20 players 'off' on the same night."

In Saturday's rematch, SMU gave up half as many goals as they did Friday night — and the Cardinals scored twice as many.

Problem was, twice as many goals meant SMU scored two, and half the goals against was four.

Gustavus broke open a 1-1 game with a pair of second-period goals, and held off a third-period SMU charge to post a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals Saturday evening.

"We played much better (on Saturday) — much more like we are capable of playing," said Olson, whose team has now dropped four straight and is searching for its first MIAC win since a 6-4 win over Augsburg on Jan. 15. "(Gustavus) is a very good team — much better than their record indicates. I was happy to see us bounce back after playing so poorly (on Friday), but it certainly wasn't the type of weekend we were hoping for."

The Cardinals entered the weekend vs. the Gusties with high hopes of making a late-season run toward an MIAC playoff berth. With four points and eight games remaining, SMU was right in the thick of the MIAC chase for a second straight post-season appearance.

With back-to-back losses, however, SMU's playoff hopes took a serious hit — and the Cardinals find themselves with their backs to the wall.

"We didn't do ourselves any favors this weekend," said Olson. "There's still a lot of hockey to be played. Obviously, we would be in a much better position with a win or two (vs. GAC), but we can't go back and change that — we've just got to look ahead and focus on this weekend (vs. Concordia)."