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WINONA, Minn. — It wasn't quite the start Saint Mary's University men's hockey coach Bill Moore was hoping for to send off his three graduating seniors with, as Gustavus scored a pair of unanswered goals in the first period.

SMU, however, wasn't about to let the Gusties rain on the Cardinals' senior parade Friday evening, as Saint Mary's scored four times in the second period en route to a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at the SMU Ice Arena.

“That was a good win,” understated Moore, whose team won for the second time in its last three games in improving to 5-8-2 MIAC, 6-16-2 overall. “It was great to see us bounce back (in the second period) and kind of going through the motions in the first.

“But even more impressive is the way we held our composure in the third period — especially after (Gustavus) scored that quick one to make it a 4-3 game.”

After spotting GAC a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Ryan Johnson and Mitch Carlson, the Cardinals got to work. Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) got SMU on the board at 4:56 of the second period, taking feed from Danny Wood (Wilmington, Ohio) and beating GAC goalie Josh Swartout.

The Cardinals would pull even three minutes later on a powerplay goal by Tom Healy (Rolling Meadows, Ill.), and took the lead on a pretty one-two-three passing play from Joey Nadeau (Winona, Minn.) to Jimmy Becker (Murrieta, Calif.) to Mike Schaber (Blaine, Minn.), who beat Swartout to the glove side.

And SMU still wasn't done, as Kevin Wentland (Columbia Heights, Minn.) broke in alone on Swartout and beat the Gustie netminder on the stick side with 1:25 remaining. Chase Marshall (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) were credited with the assists.

The Gusties made things interesting, cutting the Cardinals' lead to 4-3 just 26 seconds into the third period, but SMU goalie Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) made the one-goal lead stand up, stopping 13 of GAC's 14 third-period shots to ice the win.

“This was a great way to send our seniors off, no question about that,” said Moore, noting that Marshall, Ben Kitzmiller (Lambertville, Mich.) and Blake Zemaitis (Mount Prospect, Ill.) were playing their final collegiate home game. “It got a little nerve-wracking at the end, but we got the win — the guys all worked hard, and that hard work paid off.”

The Cardinals close out their season on Saturday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 7 p.m. rematch with the Gusties.