Game Summary

MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team entered the third period of last Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Gustavus trailing 2-1.

SMU outscored the Gusties 2-1 over the game's final 20 minutes to salvage a 3-3 tie, so when the Cardinals found themselves trailing Concordia 3-1 Friday evening, there was no need to hit the panic button.

Instead, the Cardinals' offense just stepped on the accelerator, erupting for three third-period goals en route to a key 4-3 MIAC win.

"It wasn't pretty, in fact at times it was downright ugly, but in the end, we got the job done," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team moved to 7-5-1 in conference play and solidified its hold on one of the five berths in the MIAC post-season tournament. "I don't know what it was, but for the first two periods, we just let (Concordia) take it to us. (The Cobbers) came out hard and we didn't respond.

"But then, all of the sudden in that third period, it was like we decided to wake up and play."

And play they did.

Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.) cut the Cobbers' lead to 3-2 four minutes into the third period, and Jason Fillipp (Fox River Grove, Ill.) tied it 3-3 at the 11:15 mark. Less than a minute later, SMU's Lenny Hofmann (Sartell, Minn.) netted the game-winner on an unassisted goal at 12:10.

"To come back like that is huge," said Olson. "The guys never gave up — they kept battling and battling and it paid off."