Box Score Game Summary / GameDay Preview

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — When the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team stepped on the ice Friday evening for its nonconference game against UW-River Falls, it had been 27 days since the Cardinals last competed.

Unfortunately for SMU coach Bill Moore, the Cardinals' offense remained in hiatus, as the Falcons scored the game's first three goals en route to a 4-1 victory at W.H. Hunt Arena.

“We didn't play poorly — I actually thought we played pretty well,” said Moore, whose team fell to 3-9-0 overall with the loss. “We certainly created enough offensive chances to come away with a win, we just couldn't put the puck in the net — it's been our biggest struggle all year.

“We had a couple breakdowns in our defensive zone and (UW-River Falls) cashed in on them. That was the difference in the game.”

After a scoreless first period, in which SMU goalie Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) stopped all 13 Falcons shots, UW-River Falls finally broke the ice, as Justin Brossman netted his sixth goal of the season 11 minutes into the second period.

The Falcons would make it 2-0 before the end of the period and Jeff Burke pushed that advantage to 3-0 with his first collegiate goal five minutes into the third. Blake Zemaitis (Mount Prospect, Ill.) finally got the Cardinals on the board off an assist from Danny Wood (Willmington, Ohio) at 10:18. UW-RF's Josh Calleja closed out the scoring with 22 seconds remaining, netting his fifth of the season on the power play.

Horstman finished with a season-high 41 saves in the losing effort for SMU, while the Falcons' Eric Babcock stopped 35 of SMU's 36 shots.

The Cardinals close out their nonconference schedule on Saturday, traveling to UW-Eau Claire for a 7 p.m. contest, before returning to MIAC play on Jan. 14 at home against St. Olaf.