WINONA, Minn. — It took the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team a while to get warmed up Saturday afternoon—a long while.
 
But once they did, St. Olaf did not stand a chance.
 
The Cardinals scored two goals in the final 2:43 of the third period—then netted the game-winner 2:02 into overtime, as Saint Mary's rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Oles at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"That was a crazy game," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor, whose team outshot the Oles 45-24, but did could not score until the game's final minutes. "It told the players in the locker room after the game, 'good teams find a way to win games like this'—and that's what we did today, we found a way to win."
 
For the second straight game, it was the Oles who drew first blood, as Jane Vezina slipped a puck past Saint Mary's goalie Marah Shields (Milford, Mich.) to give St. Olaf the 1-0 advantage.
 
Unlike Friday—in which Saint Mary's responded by scoring four of the game's final five goals in a 4-2 victory—however, it was the Oles who continued to find the back of the net, as Drue Engelman gave the Oles a 2-0 lead 1:34 into the second period.
 
The game would remain 2-0 until late in the third period—thanks in large part to the play of St. Olaf goalie Cassie Alexander, who stopped the first 39 Cardinal shots she faced.
 
Shots 40 and 41, however, were another story—as Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) scored her third goal of the weekend at 17:17 of the third period, and McKenna Parent (Anoka, Minn.) knotted the game at 2-2 just 32 seconds later.
 
The Cardinals carried that momentum into the five-minute overtime period, and two minutes in, it was Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) to the rescue, as the sophomore netted her second of the season to give Saint Mary's the win—and the key conference sweep.
 
"It was good to see us continue to battle—even in that third period when we were down 2-0," said Mannor. "We created so many good scoring chances, it was nice to finally convert on a few of them when we needed it most."
 
Shields finished with 22 saves for the Cardinals, while Alexander recorded 42 saves in goal for the Oles.
 
The Cardinals (7-4-1 MIAC, 9-8-2 overall) are back on their home ice on Friday, as Saint Mary's hosts Augsburg in a 7 p.m. conference game at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. The two teams will then travel to Ed Saugestad Ice Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.