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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team scored early — and they scored late — as the Cardinals rallied from a one-goal deficit early in the third period to earn a 2-2 nonconference tie against Milwaukee School of Engineering Saturday evening at the SMU Ice Arena.

"You never want to be satisfied with a tie, but I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure and bouncing back after giving up two goals in the second period," said SMU coach Bill Moore. "We talked before the game that if we are going to make any kind of a run toward the (MIAC) postseason, special teams are going to be crucial.

"Tonight, we gave up a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal, and that's the difference between a win and a tie."

After a scoreless first period — thanks in part to the play of SMU goalie Phil Heinle (York, Pa.), who stopped all 12 MSOE shots in the opening 20 minutes — the Cardinals got on the board early in the second stanza, as Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) tapped a picture-perfect pass from Austin Balko (Midland, Mich.) past Raider goalie Austin Campbell for a 1-0 SMU lead.

MSOE would answer 11 minutes later, as Evan Wilson slipped past the Cardinal defense and rifled a shot past Heinle for a shorthanded goal and a 1-1 deadlock. The Raiders would add a power-play goal Nick LaRue before the period ended to give the Raiders a 2-1 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.

And again, Albergo had a hand in the SMU tally.

After being on the receiving end of a perfect pass in scoring his first-period goal, the freshman did the setting up on the game-tying tally, feathering a pass to Gualano who beat Campbell to knot the game at 2-2 and force the five-minute overtime.

SMU outshot the Raiders 3-1 in the extra session, but MSOE's one shot was a doozy, as Heinle had to make an acrobatic save to stymie Michael Thompson on a breakaway just a minute into the OT to keep the game deadlocked.

"We did a lot of good things tonight," Moore said. "Our energy was good and the effort was good."

The Cardinals (5-7-1 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, traveling to Blaine, Minn., for a 7 p.m. showdown with Bethel at the Schwan's Super Rink.