By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The first time the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team squared off against Saint John's, the two teams combined for one goal in a 1-0 SJU victory at the season-opening Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Showcase in late October.
 
They doubled that offensive output in the opening 20 minutes of Friday's conference showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Johnnies doing the doubling—and then some—as Saint John's erupted for seven goals in dealing Saint Mary's a 7-0 MIAC setback.
 
Saint John's—which scored the game's only goal in the first period of its 1-0 win over Saint Mary's earlier this year—scored a pair of first-period goals this time around.
 
Brady Heppner opened the scoring at 8:20, intercepting a Cardinal pass at the SJU blue line, racing in alone, and beating Saint Mary's goalie Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) for a 1-0 Johnnie advantage.
 
Sam Valerius also found the back of the net in the game's opening 20 minutes, scoring his second goal of the season with less than four minutes remaining to give SJU a two-goal cushion heading into the first-period intermission.
 
Ryan Kero pushed the SJU lead to 3-0 with a goal just one minute into the second period, and the Johnnies scored four more times in the third—including back-to-back power-play goals 38 seconds apart midway through the frame—to seal the win.
 
Davis finished with 13 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Andrew Lindgren recorded SJU's second shutout in as many meetings with Saint Mary's this season, stopping all 15 shots.
 
The Cardinals (1-3-1 MIAC, 3-7-1 overall) get another shot at the Johnnies on Saturday, as the two teams return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 2 p.m. conference showdown.