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WINONA, Minn. — Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) has proven to have a flair for the dramatic of late.

Fortunately for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team, the sophomore forward had also proven to be Mr. Clutch, as Wentland scored with 12 seconds remaining in regulation Friday evening to lift the Cardinals to a 3-3 overtime tie with St. Thomas at the SMU Ice Arena.

It was the second straight game in which Wentland netted the tying goal in the game's final seconds, having scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in last Saturday's 4-4 deadlock at Bethel.

“I give our guys a lot of credit, they battled right to the end,” said SMU coach Bill Moore. “I wouldn't say it was our best effort of the season, but we battled back (from a 3-2 deficit) and came away with a key (conference point.”

The Cardinals got on the board first, as Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) scored on a slap shot from the top of the circle five minutes into the opening period. SMU would make that lead stand up, taking a 1-0 advantage into the locker room after one period.

St. Thomas evened things up midway through the second period on goal by Riley Horgan, but the Cardinals responded three minutes later, as Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) rifled a laser from the point that eluded UST goalie Tyrone Simcoe to give SMU a 2-1 advantage.

The Tommies netted back-to-back goals three minutes — the first by Tommy Westmark at 13:10 and the second by Brandon Bahnemann at 16:53 — and it appeared that the Tommies would escape the SMU Ice Arena with a come-from-behind victory.

Wentland, however, had other ideas, as he scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season with 12 ticks on the clock to even the game at 3-3.

“This was one of those games that we could have picked up two points, or given away two points, so to come up with a tie — and one big point — you have to be happy,” said Moore. “Hopefully we can come out and get two more points on Saturday.”

Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 36 saves in goal for the Cardinals — including 12 in the first period, 13 in the second, six in the third and five in the five-minute overtime. Simcoe, meanwhile, stopped 18 SMU shots.

“Jason played great tonight,” said Moore. “We needed him to step up and play well, and he did.”

The Cardinals (3-4-2 MIAC, 4-12-2 overall) and the Tommies (5-5-1 MIAC, 10-9-1 overall) square off again on Saturday, this time at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. Game time is set for 7 p.m.