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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team dominated its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Bethel Saturday evening at the SMU Ice Arena.

The Cardinals had the advantage in every offensive category. Every category expect the one that mattered most — the final score.

Fortunately for SMU, a two-goal outburst in the span of less than a minute late in the third period allowed the Cardinals to earn a valuable conference point with 2-2 overtime tie.

“I thought we played well, we just struggled to put the puck in the net,” said SMU coach Bill Moore, whose team held a 37-27 advantage in shots on goal — while attempting a season-high 96 total shots. “We had a couple rattle off the post, we couldn't convert on a breakaway, and that proved to be the difference.

“I give our guys a lot of credt, they played hard.”

After giving up the game's first goal with 11 seconds remaining in the first period, the Cardinals came out and dominated the second period, outshooting the Royals 16-8, but Bethel goalie Dan Harper — and the goal posts — kept the Cardinals off the board.

The Cardinals hit the post twice in the second period, the second one on a Jed McGlasson (Kenai, Alaska) blast with five minutes remaining, and, two minutes later, Harper stymied SMU's Danny Wood (Wilmington, Ohio) on a breakaway, as BU maintained its 1-0 lead heading into the game's final 20 minutes.

Bethel pushed its lead to 2-0 on Jimmie Perkins' second goal in as many nights, baning his own rebound past SMU goal Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) at 11:11.

With time running out in the third period, Bethel's Josh Shingler was whistled for a five-minute major for checking from behind — and the Cardinals made the most of it, getting goals from Nate Peterson (Cadillac, Mich.) and Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) 52 seconds apart to knot the game at 2-2 and force the five minute overtime period.

“You'd much rather come away from a game like that with a win, but in this conference, every point is important,” said Moore. “I can't fault our effort, that's for sure.”

The Cardinals (1-4-1 MIAC, 4-10-1 overall) are back in action next weekend, taking on St. Thomas in a two-game MIAC series. SMU will host the Tommies at 7:30 p.m. at the SMU Ice Arena on Friday, then travel to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for the rematch on Saturday.