Game Summary

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Pressure, what pressure?

Ever since losing back-to-back games against Gustavus two weeks ago, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team has faced four straight must-win situations — with their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff hopes hanging in the balance.

And, thanks to Saturday's 4-2 victory over Hamline, the Cardinals are a perfect 4-for-4.

In more ways than one.

Not only did the Cardinals win their fourth straight conference game Saturday, riding a pair of goals from Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.), but they did it in much the same way they did the previous three – scoring four goals.

"This was a big weekend for us — we needed to come out and get four points, and that's exactly what we did," said SMU coach Don Olson. "It's going to be a fight for the finish (in the race for conference playoff positions), and we've put ourselves in a pretty good position with these two wins."

But now, after putting together their longest winning streak of the season, the Cardinals must sit back for a week and watch as the rest of the league battles it out.

"It's a tough time to have our (MIAC) bye," said Olson, whose team is currently tied with St. Olaf for third place with 13 points and a 6-7-1 conference mark. "We've done everything we can do to this point, now we've got to take this week and rest, get everyone healthy and prepare for our finale against St. Olaf (on Feb. 25 and 26)."

Damerow picked up SMU's first two goals against the Pipers Saturday, scoring the lone goals of the first and second periods as SMU took a 2-0 lead into the game's final 20 minutes. Tim McNamara (Hastings, Minn.) made it 3-0, before Hamline sandwiched a pair of goals — the last with three seconds remaining in regulation — around Adam Fingerhut's (Oak Brook, Ill.) team-leading 11th goal of the season.

"I'm very pleased with the effort all weekend," said Olson, whose team opened the two-game MIAC series with a 4-1 win over the Pipers on Friday. "We had good energy and we played well as a team. ===

"Hopefully we can keep the momentum rolling."

And, hopefully, the MIAC playoff won't look much different when the Cardinals finally return to the ice at St. Olaf on Feb. 25.

"We've put ourselves in a good position, but (next weekend's games) are out of our control," said Olson. "All we can do now is sit back and watch."

The Cardinals enter their bye week tied with the Oles with 13 points, one point in front of both Bethel (6-6-0 MIAC) and Gustavus (6-6-0 MIAC) and two points in front of Augsburg (4-5-3). The Royals square off against Concordia (3-9-0 MIAC), while Gustavus faces St. Thomas (9-2-0 MIAC), Augsburg goes up against St. John's (11-1-1 MIAC) and St. Olaf takes on Hamline (1-10-0).

"There's still a lot that can happen over the final two weeks," said Olson. "What's frustrating is, until (the St. Olaf series), there's nothing we can do about it. We'll just have to wait and see how it all unfolds."