The Teams
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-2-1)
vs.
Northland Lumberjacks (0-0-0, 2-0-0)
The Vitals
Monday, Nov. 20 • SMU Ice Arena • 7:05 p.m.
Last Action
The Cardinals are coming off a nonconference split last weekend, losing to UW-River Falls 5-2, while beating UW-Stout 7-5. … Northland, meanwhile, saw its season-opening losing streak reach seven straight as the Lumberjacks lost to UM-Crookston 3-0 and 6-4.
Conference Standings
Through Sunday, November 19
This and That
Al Schumacher (Oakdale, Minn.) scored the first two goals of his collegiate career in leading the Cardinals to their 7-5 win over UW-Stout on Saturday. … Colin Emans (Hutchinson, Minn.) netted his team-leading fourth goal vs. the Blue Devils, while Jason Fillipp (Fox River Grove, Ill.), Denny O’Connor (Roseville, Minn.), Lenny Hofmann (Sartell, Minn.) and Josh Knudtson (Austin, Minn.) also scored. … SMU rallied from deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 to beat UW-Stout. … SMU scored the first goal in both of its games last weekend. … Three of SMU’s seven goals vs. UW-Stout came on the powerplay.
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has Cardinals offensive flying
WINONA, Minn. — “Anybody can beat anybody else on any given night.”
Call it what you want — a cliche, coachspeak … .
But after watching what has happened in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference through the first three weeks of the men’s hockey season, there isn’t a better way to describe this year’s conference race.
Defending regular-season champion St. Thomas is sitting at 1-2-1 after the first two weeks of conference play, while playoff champion Concordia is atop the standings at 3-0-1 — having escaped with a season-opening 3-3 tie vs. Saint Mary’s on a last-second goal. Bethel is second, after opening with a sweep of St. John’s, then splitting with Gustavus, which was swept by St. Olaf, which then failed to score a single goal in two games against Concordia … .
Confused?
Don’t be. It’s pretty simple — anybody can beat anybody else on any given night.
So where does that leave Saint Mary’s?
Right in the thick of things.
“I think the conference is closer this year than it ever has been in the past,” said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team rebounded from its season-opening loss and tie with Concordia by hammering Hamline twice, winning 4-0 and 6-2. “The team that wins the title is going to be the team that comes prepared day-in and day-out. If we are going to contend — which I firmly believe we can — we are going to have to come to the rink ready to put our best game on the ice every single night.”
How tight is the conference race going to be? If the first two weekends weren’t proof enough, last weekend’s nonconference games against the rival Northern Collegiate Hockey Association certainly added fuel to the fire.
Gustavus, the team that was swept by St. Olaf, battled Lake Forest to a 1-1 tie Friday evening. Lake Forest then turned around and beat St. Olaf 5-3. UW-Stout, meanwhile, knocked off St. Thomas 4-3, but was no match for the Cardinals the following night as SMU won 7-5.
“The way we’ve started the season — the positive attitude, the outstanding work ethic, and the determination that we’ve shown — certainly leads me to believe that we can play with anyone in the conference,” said Olson, whose team dropped a 5-2 decision to UW-River Falls on Friday, before rebounding with Saturday’s 7-5 triumph over the Blue Devils. “We are an extremely young team, and that inexperience hurt us a little bit (against River Falls). But we are also a very hungry team — a team that’s willing to work hard to get better every day.
“I think we have the potential to be right up there with the league leaders,” continued Olson, whose team returns to action Monday evening, playing host to Northland College in a nonconference game. “But we can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves. The MIAC is going to be a dogfight right to the end, and our nonconference schedule makes things that much tougher. It’s going to be crucial for us to make sure we come to the rink focused on putting our best game on the ice.”
If they don’t … well, as the saying goes, “Anybody can beat anybody else on any given day.”