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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team started off their conference slate on the right foot Friday night, as they earned a 5-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Concordia at the SMU Ice Arena.

After a scoreless first period, the Cardinals got on the scoreboard on a Tom Healy (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) power-play tally eight minutes into the second period. Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.) made it 2-0 four minutes later, netting his first collegiate goal — also on the power-play — off assists from Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) and Jimmy Becker (Wildomar, Calif.)

“Power plays are going to be the key to our success this season,” said SMU coach Bill Moore, whose squad moves to 2-3-0 overall with its second straight win. “With the new power-play rules, teams' wins and losses are going to be determined by their success on special teams.”

SMU built a 3-0 lead early in the third period on a goal by Blake Zemaitis (Mount Prospect, Ill.). The Cobbers' foiled SMU goalie Jason Horstman's (Faribault, Minn.) bid for his first collegiate shutout when Pat Dietz scored his second of the season at 6:07, only to have SMU's Nick Carson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Denney score back-to-back power-play goals 38 seconds apart midway through the frame to seal the win.

“We took the lead and held it,” said Moore, “The differences between this year and last year are that we have deeper, have more firepower, and are learning what it takes to win.”

SMU faces the Cobbers (1-4-0 overall, 0-1-0 in the MIAC) in a rematch on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the SMU Ice Arena.