Game Summary

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team's hopes of a second straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff appearance was officially snatched out of their grasp Friday evening.

The Cardinals, who controlled their own destiny heading into their weekend series against the Oles — two wins, and SMU was in, no questions asked.

One loss, and the Cardinals would need help.

And after Friday's heartbreaking 3-2 loss, the Cardinals were dialing 911.

With the loss, the Cardinals must beat St. Olaf in Saturday's rematch, and hope Augsburg can complete its two-game sweep over Gustavus. The Auggies beat GAC 7-4 on Friday, keeping the Gusties tied with SMU for the fifth and final playoff spot. A Gustavus win, however, and the Cardinals are out, since the Gusties hold the tiebreaker with their 8-1, 4-2 sweep of SMU earlier this season.

"It was a tough loss to take, because we really played very well," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team had its season-high four-game winning streak snapped in falling to 6-8-1 in the MIAC. "We came out in the first 10 minutes (of the first period) and just dominated play. I thought we played a pretty even second period, and we had a number of great chances in the third period, we just couldn't connect."

John Paulson put St. Olaf on the board first with a powerplay goal early in the opening period. Travis VanDynHoven (River Falls, Wis.) got SMU even three minutes later with a shorthanded tally that allowed the Cardinals to head into the locker room after one period tied, 1-1.

Pat Gilles netted the lone goal of the second period, and Andrew Gastineau padded the St. Olaf lead to 3-1 with a goal 1:34 into the final period.

SMU had a golden opportunity to cut the lead to one midway through the third when Josh Biser and Paulson were whistled for penalties 19 seconds apart to give the Cardinals a two-man powerplay advantage. The Cardinals peppered St. Olaf goalie Dan Kehler, but were unable to get one past the Oles' netminder.

The Cardinals finally did get their second goal when Mike Bry (Manvel, N.D.) netted his sixth of the season with 3:18 remaining, but that was as close as the Cardinals would get.

"Everyone's pretty disappointed right now," said Olson, whose team closes out the regular season Saturday in a rematch with the Oles. "I thought we played well — the effort was there, we just couldn't catch a break. Obviously we would have like our (playoff) chances better heading into (Saturday's game) with a win, but what we have to do now is come out with the same type of effort, and maybe get a little help.

"Who knows, anything's possible in this league."