Game Summary

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.) went 16 games without scoring a goal for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team.

In Games 17, 18 and 19, however, the Cardinals sophomore has been a goal-scoring machine, finding the back of the net four times — none more important than Friday's tally against Hamline.

Polk, fresh off a three-goal performance in the Cardinals' 7-0, 7-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of Concordia last weekend, netted the game-winner two minutes into overtime, as SMU pushed its winning streak to three straight with a 2-1 OT victory over the PIpers at Drake Arena.

"The game was a battle from start to finish — both teams played hard and both teams had their share of good scoring opportunities," said SMU coach Don Olson. "I think we won the goaltending battle, and (Polk) capitalized on a scoring chance in overtime and that was the difference.

"This is a good win for us," continued Olson, whose team pushed its record to 4-7-0 in the MIAC and 5-13-1 overall. "It wasn't our best performance of the year — we played hard, but didn't play smart at times — but we were able to gut it out and come away with the win."

Thanks in large part to Polk's late-game heroics – and another stellar goaltending performance from Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.).

Nosal, the reigning MIAC Player of the Week who posted his first collegiate shutout in a 37-save effort against Concordia in last Friday's 7-0 win, kicked out 31 of the 32 shots he faced in winning his third straight start.

"Curtis played another great game," said Olson of his senior netminder. "He's in a zone right now and is playing the best he's played in his four years here. He was the difference tonight."

The Cardinals wasted little time getting on the board against the Pipers as Marcus Reszka (Winona, Minn.) gave SMU a 1-0 lead less than 30 seconds into the opening period.

That, however, would be the Cardinals' only goal until Polk's game-winner more than 60 minutes later.

"We had some great chances to put the game away early, but couldn't convert on them," said Olson, whose team hosts the Pipers in Saturday's rematch. "Fortunately, Curtis made some big saves and we were able to get the game-winner (in overtime)."