Last Action: Tonight’s game is the season-opener for the Cardinals. … Lake Forest, meanwhile, got a goal from Tyler Canal with less than seven minutes to go in the third period as the Foresters opened their season with a 3-2 win over MSOE.

A Year Ago: Eric Thom scored the game-tying goal with 24 seconds remaining in regulation — capping a three-goal burst in the game's final 6:12, and leading the Cardinals to a 5-5 tie with the Foresters on Nov. 8, 2003.

This and That:

Chad Damerow 10 G< 19 A in 2003-04

SMU qualified for the MIAC post-season tournament for the first time since the 1996-97 season. … Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.),Marcus Reszka (Winona, Minn.) and Lenny Hofmann were SMU's representatives on the All-MIAC team. … Jason Fillipp finished as SMU's goal-scoring leader with a career-high 15, while Hofmann and Damerow shared the team lead in assists with 19, and Hofmann boasted a team-leading 33 points. … Reszka's eight goals are the most by an SMU defenseman since Randy Gallatin scored eight in 1998-99, while his 15 assists and 23 points are the most since 1992-93 season, when Chris Valicevic posted 33 assists and 44 points. … The Cardinals had five players record at least 20 points, the most since 1999-2000. … SMU's 13 wins were the most since 1997-98 (14-11-0), while the Cardinals' 243 points were the most since they netted 290 in 1997-98. …  Ten of SMU's 13 wins came at home. … SMU did not lose more than two games in a row all season, and boasted a season-high winning streak of five games.