WINONA, Minn. — The goals came fast and furious—and plentiful—in the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team's 7-4 nonconference win over Aurora Saturday evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
Goals were a little harder to come by Sunday afternoon in the teams' nonconference rematch.
 
Until the third period that is.
 
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) completed his first hat trick of the season—and second of his career—highlighting the Cardinals' second straight three-goal third-period, as Saint Mary's handed the Spartans a 5-3 setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The two teams traded goals in each of the first two periods—Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) netting Saint Mary's first-period goal, and Kinne tallying the first of his three goals in the second—making it a 2-2 contest heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
And what a 20 minutes it was.
 
Kinne scored twice in a three-minute span early in the third to push the Cardinals' lead to 4-2, but Ron Lingren and the Spartans made things interesting with a power-play goal at 9:41.
 
Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.) gave the Cardinals some breathing room with an empty net tally at 19:20, as Saint Mary's locked up its third straight win—while pushing its unbeaten streak to seven (6-0-2).
 
Along with his three goals, Kinne also picked up an assist on Portner's first-period goal, giving the Cardinal junior his second four-point game of the season. Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) collected three assists and has now recorded at least one point in nine of the team's 10 games—including 15 points in his last six contests (5 G, 10 A).
 
Jake Tugnutt (Peterborough, Ontario)—making his first collegiate start in goal for the Cardinals—finished with 23 saves, including 11 in the third period. Jared Rutledge stopped 41 shots—22 in the first, 15 in the second, and four in the third—for the Spartans.
 
The Cardinals (6-2-2 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend, traveling to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., for a pair of games against Concordia. Game times are set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.