WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team kicked off the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule in impressive fashion Friday, routing Bethel 10-2.
 
And if coach Bill Moore was worried that his Cardinals would not have any firepower left for Saturday's rematch, a three-goal first period—and a four-goal second—certainly put those doubts to rest.
 
Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) recorded his first collegiate hat trick—the Cardinals' second in as many nights—as Saint Mary's completed its conference sweep of the Royals with a 9-1 victory Saturday evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"We played very well—at both ends of the ice," said Moore, whose team has now won three straight and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four. "It's great to see our offense perform the way it did—and it was even better to see the scoring spread out the way it was all weekend.
 
"Our guys worked hard all weekend, and to come away with a pair of conference wins is huge."
 
The Cardinals picked up right where they left off on Friday, scoring three times in the game's opening 20 minutes in the teams' rematch on Saturday.
 
Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) got things rolling for the Cardinals, scoring his second goal of the season at the 5:13 mark. Johnson made it 2-0 three minutes later, and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.)—who assisted on Portner's goal—added a shorthanded tally off a picture-perfect feed from Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) to give Saint Mary's a 3-0 cushion after one period.
 
And as good as Saint Mary's was in the first period, they were even better in the second, scoring four more times to take a 7-1 lead into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Johnson netted his second of the game at 1:12 of the second period, and Joey VanAntwerp (Farmington Hills, Mich.) made it 5-0 just 1:01 later off an assist from Johnson.
 
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
 
After Taylor Brown got the Royals on the board with a power play tally at 9:51, Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) and Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) would find the back of the net four minutes apart to give the Cardinals their commanding six goal edge.
 
Gruse would push the Cardinal lead to 8-1 with his third of the season at 11:14 of the third period, and Johnson completed his first collegiate hat trick with goal No. 3 at 17:43.
 
Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.) also had a big offensive outing Saturday, as the sophomore recorded his first three-assist effort in a Cardinal uniform, while Johnson also added an assist for a four-point night.

While the Cardinal offense was busy peppering a pair of BU goalies with 41 shots, Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) was doing his part between the pipes for Saint Mary's, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced—including all 11 in the third period.
 
The Cardinals (2-0-0 MIAC, 3-2-1 overall) hit the road on Friday, heading to the Northfield (Minn.) Ice Arena for a 7:30 p.m. conference showdown with St. Olaf. The two teams will then return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. rematch the following day.