Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — This time around, a three-goal lead was enough — but just barely.

Less than 24 hours after the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team saw a three-goal lead — and their MIAC playoff hopes — slip through their grasp in a 4-3 loss to Concordia — the Cardinals found themselves holding yet another three-goal advantage Saturday in the rematch.

And for the second straight night, the Cobbers rallied to tie the game — only this time, B.J. Gaustad (Portland, Ore.) made sure the Cardinals were not denied.

Gaustad netted a powerplay goal 1:53 into overtime as the Cardinals picked up a 5-4 victory over the Cobbers at the SMU Ice Arena.

"It was like a repeat of (Friday night)," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team jumped out to a 3-0 second-period advantage on Friday, only to give up four unanswered goals in the loss. "We came out flying in the first period, but once we got the big lead, we let up a bit, and Concordia took advantage.

"You have to give (Concordia) a lot of credit, they never stopped working — down 4-0 they just kept coming at us."

Fortunately for the Cardinals, this time around, they had the knockout punch.

Eric Thom (Portland, Ore.), Colin Emans (Hutchinson, Minn.) and Jason Fillipp (Fox River Grove, Ill.) all scored first-period goals for the Cardinals, with Emans netted his second of the game eight minutes into the second period to give SMU what appeared to be a commanding 4-0 advantage.

But the Cobbers began chipping away, getting back-to-back goals from Matt Hansen three minutes apart midway through the second period, then added a third goal by Treavor Peterson before the period ended to close the gap to 4-3.

Brett Johnson got Concordia even, beating SMU goalie Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Heb.) at the 5:02 mark of the third period. Neither team could break through over the game's final 15 minutes, setting up Gaustad's overtime heroics.

"I was proud of the way our guys hung in there," said Olson, whose team improved to 5-9-0 in the MIAC and 11-11-1 overall. "When Concordia tied it, they could have easily just folded — but they didn't, they kept battling."

And, for a change, they were rewarded for all their hard work.