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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2005-2006 Records: 7-7-0 MIAC, 8-13-1 Overall |
| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 3, St. Olaf 2 / Details Saint Mary's 3, St. Olaf 2 / Details |
| Upcoming Events: Fri., Feb. 24: SMU at Bethel, 7:05 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25: Bethel at SMU, 7:05 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: The Cardinals' sweep of St. Olaf last weekend was their third straight MIAC sweep — the first time SMU has won back-to-back-to-back MIAC series since sweeping Bethel, Saint John's and Hamline during the 1989-90 season. … SMU's current six-game win streak is also its longest since stringing six together early in the 1994-95 season. … Friday's win in Northfield, Minn., snapped a four-year SMU losing streak on the Oles' home ice. … Tim McNamara (Hastings, Minn.) scored a goal in both games vs. the Oles, while Adam Gill (Rochester, Minn.) netted the game-winner in Saturday's 3-2 win, pushing his team-leading point total to 23, two more than McNamara. … Gill also leads the team with 13 goals, while McNamara is the team-leader in assists with 13. … Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.) stopped 67 of the 71 shots he faced vs. the Oles — including 39 saves in Friday's win — and has now stopped 194 of the 199 shots he's faced during SMU's current six-game win streak. … SMU has outscored its opponents 25-7 during its six-game win streak. … The Cardinals, thanks to goals by McNamara and Karl Reinke (Duluth, Minn.) vs. St. Olaf improved to 7-2-0 when scoring first. SMU is just 1-11-1 when its opponents score first. |
by posting 2 straight wins over Oles for 3rd sweep
WINONA, Minn. —
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Tim
McNamara 2 goals vs. St. Olaf |
The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team continued its late-season push towards the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs last Saturday evening, as the Cardinals got a third-period goal from Adam Gill (Rochester, Minn.) with less than six minutes remaining in regulation to break a 2-2 tie and lift SMU to a 3-2 win over St. Olaf at the SMU Ice Arena.
"That was a great college hockey game — a game that was very similar to (Friday night's)," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team opened its MIAC series against St. Olaf with a 3-2 victory in Northfield, Minn. — a win that snapped a four-year losing streak on the Oles' home ice. "Both games were hard-fought battles. (St. Olaf) did a very good job on their special teams in both games — they killed (penalties) very well and they got a lot of shots on the powerplay.
"But 5-on-5, I thought we had the better (scoring) chances and the guys worked hard and came through in the end."
With the win, the Cardinals' season-high sixth straight, SMU improved to 7-7-0 in the MIAC — and, more importantly, remained just two points behind Bethel for the fifth and final playoff spot.
"I've tried not to get too caught up in any of the (playoff talk)," admitted Olson. "We talked about it a little bit at our team meeting (Saturday morning), and I told the guys that this is the time of year when people have a tendency to get caught up in all the different (playoff) scenarios.
"Take (Friday night) as a perfect example," continued Olson. "Hamline beats Bethel, which is a bonus because it brings us two points closer to them, but the bottom line is, we have to take care of our own business and hope that that's enough."
And, if the Cardinals can complete their late-season push with two more wins in their regular season-ending series against Bethel, it will be more than enough.
"Our goal from the start of the season was to be one of those five teams still playing after the regular season came to a close," said Olson. "We've put ourselves in a position to do just that, but there's still a lot of work to be done."
The Cardinals certainly had their work cut out for themselves against the Oles on Saturday.
After a scoreless first period, Karl Reinke (Duluth, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board with his second of the year two minutes into the second period. Back-to-back goals by the Oles' Ted Bickel — the first on a powerplay — however, gave St. Olaf a 2-1 lead.
Tim McNamara (Hastings, Minn.), who collected the Cardinals' first goal in Friday's 3-2 win, pulled SMU even with his eighth of the season with just 2:35 remaining in the second period.
The Cardinals finally got the break they were looking for late in the third as Gill picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and broke in alone on St. Olaf goalie Dan Kehler. Gill slipped the puck between the pads of Kehler for his 13th goal of the season to ice the Cardinals' win.
"Everyone is playing with so much confidence right now," said Olson. "I think everyone is finally starting to understand what it takes to win — they are coming out and competing from start to finish.
"And in this league, if you are going to be successful, that's exactly what you have to do."