WINONA, Minn. — For the second night in a row, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team gave three-time defending conference champion and nationally ranked St. Thomas all they could handle Sunday evening.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Sunday's outcome wasn't quite as favorable as Saturday's.
 
The Cardinals picked up a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference points in the teams' first meeting on Saturday—battling the Tommies to a 3-3 overtime tie, before getting a goal by Jonathon Elliott (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) to  top UST 1-0 in the shootout.
 
And Sunday's game had all the same drama—without the overtime or shootout, that is.
 
St. Thomas' Michael Dockry broke a 2-2 tie with 6:15 remaining in regulation, as the Tommies dealt Saint Mary's a 3-2 MIAC setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"I didn't think we played as well today as we did (Saturday)," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore, whose Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on Saturday, and held 2-1 and 3-2 advantages in the third before settling for the 3-3 tie. "It's not that we didn't play well tonight—because I thought we did. We just didn't have the same jump as we had in the first game."
 
The first period Sunday was nearly a mirror image of Saturday—only this time, it was the Tommies who scored the game's first two goals, as Willie Faust and Nick Nielsen each put one past Saint Mary's goalie Phil Heinle.
 
The Cardinals got one back before the period ended, as Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) scored his second of the season, tipping a Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) shot past UST goalie Drew Fielding to make it a 2-1 game after the opening 20 minutes.
 
Neither team could find the back of the net, as the Tommies—much the same way the Cardinals did the night before—held a 2-1 advantage going into the third period.
 
Saint Mary's got the game-tying goal at 6:03 of the third period as Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) rifled a shot past Fielding off assists from Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) and Kyle Blondin (Kent, Wash.).
 
The deadlock did not last long, however, as Dockry corralled a loose puck and beat Heinle with what proved to be the game-winner seven minutes later.
 
The Tommies kept Heinle busy, peppering the sophomore netminder with a season-high 37 shots, while Fielding stopped 16 of the 18 Cardinal shots he faced.
 
Saint Mary's (0-1-1 MIAC, 1-2-1 overall) step out of conference play next weekend, traveling to Superior, Wis., for a 7 p.m. game against UW-Superior on Friday, before heading to Stevens Point, Wis., for a 7 p.m. showdown with UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.