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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team put together 15 minutes of its best hockey of the season Saturday afternoon in the Cardinals' rematch against the Johnnies.

Unfortunately for SMU, the Johnnies erupted for three goals in the game's first 45 minutes — then hung on to hold off the Cardinals furious third-period comeback in beating Saint Mary's 3-2 at the SMU Ice Arena.

“We can't just turn it on and turn it off like that,” said SMU assistant coach Ryan Egan. “When we finally decided to play, we played extremely well — but you can't pick and choose when to play at your best.

“(Saint John's) took it to us for two-and-a-half periods, and, unfortunately, we just ran out of time.”

The Johnnies took control early, getting back-to-back goals from Zach Knight and Michael Palmiscno in the game's opening 10 minutes. SJU held a 9-3 edge in shots on goal in the first period, heading into the locker room with a commanding 2-0 advantage.

A goal by Josh Gaughan 10 minutes into the second period made it 3-0 SJU, and it looked like the Johnnies would cruise to the easy win.

The Cardinals, however, had other ideas, as Nick Nagel (Andover, Minn.) and Brad Denney (Fishers, Ind.) scored six minutes apart early in the third period to cut the Johnnie lead to one, 3-2.

SMU continued to buzz the SJU net looking for the equalizer — outshooting the Johnnies 14-4 in the game's final 20 minutes — but Saint John's goalie J.D. Wells was up to the task, thwarting the Cardinals time and time again to preserve Saint John's second straight 3-2 win.

SMU goalie Jason Horstman (Faribault, Minn.) kicked out 18 Johnnie shots, while Wells finished with 18 saves on 20 Cardinal shots.

The Cardinals (1-10-1 MIAC, 4-16-1 overall) are back in action next weekend, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 7:05 p.m. MIAC contest on Friday, with the same two teams returning to the SMU Ice Arena for a 7:30 p.m. rematch on Saturday.