Box Score Game Summary vs. Bethel / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team entered Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in dire need of a victory.

Which is exactly what they got.

Thanks in large part to the line of Tommy Healy (Rolling Meadows, Ill.), Jimmy Becker (Wildomar, Calif.) and Vincent Unklesbay (Maplewood, Minn.).

The trio hooked up three times to rally SMU from an early 2-0 deficit, and spark the Cardinals to a 6-3 conference win over Bethel at the SMU Ice Arena.

“It's amazing what this team is capable of when they go out and play the way they are capable,” said SMU coach Bill Moore, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak with their third home win of the season. “We struggled to play disciplined hockey (last Saturday in a 9-1 loss to St. Olaf), but tonight was a completely different story — we stayed out of the box and that was a big reason for our success.”

That and the play of Healy, Becker and Unklesbay.

“They were a big spark, no question about that,” said Moore of his freshmen threesome. “We got off to a slow start, but those three picked us up and got us back in the game.”

And once in the game, the Cardinals' turned up the heat.

After falling behind 2-0 on the Royals' first two shots on goal, the Cardinals got back-to-back goals from Healy — with assists from Becker and Unklesbay on each one — and another by Becker — again assisted by the other two linemates — as SMU took the lead for good, 3-2 eight minutes into the second period.

The Royals evened things up on Eric Adams' ninth goal of the season at 1649 of the second, but the Cardinals quickly answered on a shorthanded goal by Jeff Miller (Portage, Mich.) two minutes later.

SMU would get some breathing room when Steve Murphy (Anchorage, Alaska) beat Bethel goalie Aaron Damjanovich five minutes into the third period to make it 5-3, and Mike Glaesmer (Traverse City, Mich.) iced the win at 18;18, scoring an empty net goal.

“That was probably one of the most complete games we've played all season,” said Moore, who also got a 31-save effort from Karac Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in his first collegiate start. “Everyone played well tonight.”

With the win, the Cardinals improve to 2-6-1 in the MIAC and 3-14-1 overall, while Bethel falls to 5-6-0 in the conference and 9-10-1 overall. The two teams square off again Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn.