ASHWAUBENON — One period at a time. One shift at a time.

It's a motto the St. Norbert College hockey team has stuck to when facing adversity and one that benefited the No. 1-ranked Green Knights on Friday night.

After surrendering three consecutive second-period goals to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, St. Norbert closed the game with seven consecutive scores of its own in a 9-3 rout in front of 1,170 at the Cornerstone Community Center.

Six of the Green Knights' nine goals came on the power play, which is the second most in a game in program history. Five of SNC's six power-play goals came in the third period, which set a record for power-play goals in a period for the Green Knights when playing at the Cornerstone.

"I thought we handled guys better in the third," SNC coach Tim Coghlin said. "The fact that we're moving the puck — no matter how we're moving the puck and how it ends up in the back of the net — that's a positive thing and is something all of our guys can feel good about."

St. Norbert, which came into the game with a power play operating at 14.3 percent, saw its efficiency jump to 27.8 percent after succeeding on six of eight attempts on Friday.

Goals from forward Shane Wheeler and defenseman Sam Tikka gave St. Norbert a 2-0 lead in the first period, but SNC's Tyler Allen was called for a double minor with 9 seconds left in the period.

The Pointers took advantage of the 4-minute minor at the start of the second stanza, scoring a pair of power-play goals in the first 3 minutes to tie the game. They took a 3-2 advantage on freshman forward Nick Kenney's first goal of the season at 13:42.

But St. Norbert rebounded. Forward Scott Pulak tied it with his first goal of the season with less than 5 minutes remaining before Brandon Longley netted the Green Knights' first shorthanded goal of the year with 45 seconds left to regain the lead, 4-3.

Stevens Point committed 12 of its 16 penalty minutes in the third period, and St. Norbert took advantage. Matt Boyd scored two power-play goals, and forwards Cody Keefer and Tyler Allen, and defenseman Mike Bernardy each had one.

"Our guys showed a lot of character today," said Tikka, who had a goal and an assist. "We got down and had some bad plays, but we were able to come back and really showed we know what we're doing. We really put together a good last 30 minutes of the game."

With the win, the Knights improved to 5-0-1 and 3-0-0 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. Stevens Point fell to 2-4-0 and 0-3-0. The teams will play again today at the Cornerstone.

"I like the back-to-back series. I like the fact it gets the blood boiling and we get to see how guys respond the next day," Coghlin said. "We're in a good spot with six points in the NCHA and have a good opportunity to get to eight, but I'm sure Point will have something to say about that and look forward to the challenge."

UW-Stevens Point 0 3 0 – 3

St. Norbert College 2 2 5 – 9

First period: 1, SNC, Shane Wheeler 6 (Noah Nemgar, Mike Bernardy), 4:22 (pp); 2, SNC, Sam Tikka 1 (Matt Boyd, Jason Nopper), 11:17.

Second period: 3, SP, Jon Brockmann 1 (Justin Johnson, Johnny Meo), 0:58 (pp); 4, SP, Alex Handy 1 (Travis Erstad, Luke Nesper), 2:17 (pp); 5, SP, Nick Kenney 1 (Reed Lally, Kyle Greco), 13:42; 6, SNC, Scott Pulak 1 (Tyler Allen, Nopper), 15:08; 7, SNC, Brandon Longley 4 (Adam Hammerbeck, Johan Ryd), 19:15 (sh).

Third period: 8, SNC, Matt Boyd 3 (Wheeler, Nick Tabisz), 3:47 (pp); 9, SNC, Keefer 7 (Justin Favreau, Tabisz), 9:55 (pp); 10, SNC, Boyd 4 (Keefer), 14:18 (pp); 11, SNC, Tyler Allen 1 15:12 (pp); 12, SNC, Mike Bernardy 2 (Tikka, Kyle Stroh), 15:32 (5x3 pp).

Shots on goal: SP, 5-8-4 – 17. SNC, 10-10-9 – 29.

Power-play opportunities: SP, 2-for-4. SNC, 6-for-8.

Penalties: SP, 8-16. SNC, 4-8.

Goalie saves: SP, Thomas Speer 22 shots, 17 saves; Adam Armour 7 shots, 3 saves. SNC, B.J. O'Brien 17 shots, 14 saves.

Attendance: 1,170.