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WINONA, Minn. — They call them "opportunities" for a reason.

And after squandering their first nine Saturday afternoon, the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team decided to cash in on a few opportunities in the third period against Saint John's.

The Cardinals, who went 0-for-9 in their first nine power play chances, took advantage of a five-minute PP, scoring two goals 23 seconds apart midway through the second period, erasing a 2-1 SJU lead and giving SMU a hard-earned, 3-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Ice Arena.

"We'll take getting three points (for the conference win) against the defending (regular-season) conference champions," said SMU coach Bill Moore. "This game started the exact same way (Friday's) did — we started slow and really came on in the second and third periods."

Just like Friday evening — when SMU fell behind 3-0 in the opening period, climbed all the way back to tie the game 3-3 early in the third, only to fall to the Johnnies 4-3 — SMU spotted SJU the early lead Saturday afternoon.

And just like Friday, the Cardinals came storming back.

Tyson Fulton scored his second goal of the weekend early in the first period and Dan McNamara added his first of the season at 6:52 of the second to give SJU a 2-0 advantage.

Bob Marx (Sioux City, Iowa) netted his team-leading fourth of the season before the second period ended to cut the Johnnies' advantage to 2-1 heading into the third stanza.

And in the third, yet another golden opportunity fell in the Cardinals' lap — and this time they cashed in.

With SJU's Nick Vatnesdal serving a five-minute major for checking from behind, the Cardinals' Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn.) rifled a shot from the point that beat Johnnies' goalie Saxton Soley and tied the game with 10:35 remaining in regulation.

The tie lasted all of 23 seconds, however, as Nagel scored his second of the weekend — and second of the season — to give SMU the lead for good.

"Our power play struggled a bit today, but when we needed it to come up big, it did," said Moore. "This team really showed a lot of resiliency this weekend. Hopefully they understand just how close we were to coming way with six big (conference) points."

Christian Gaffy (Scandia, Minn.) finished with 29 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Soley stopped 28 shots in goal for SJU.

The Cardinals (1-3-0 MIAC, 3-5-0 overall) step out of conference play next weekend, hosting Lake Forest in a pair of nonconference games at the SMU Ice Arena. SMU and the Foresters will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, and then again Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.