ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team entered Saturday's regular-season finale against Hamline certain of two things—the Cardinals would be a part of the five-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoffs—and their playoff opener would be on their home ice.
 
All that needed to be decided was when that post-season game would take place.
 
And thanks to a five-goal outburst, that day will be next Saturday, as the Cardinals held off the Pipers 5-4 at the Oscar Johnson Ice Arena, earning Saint Mary's a second-place finish in the MIAC standings—and the coveted No. 2 seed in the conference playoffs.
 
"That was a big win—a total team effort," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore, whose team will play host to Concordia—the No. 3 seed—in Saturday's semifinal at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. "I thought we played very well, especially in the first two periods. Hamline came out buzzing in the third period and made things interesting down the stretch, but I was proud of the way the guys kept their composure and got the job done.
 
"It was a great college hockey game atmosphere," Moore added. "And with all the (Saint Mary's) alumni in attendance—and the support they provided—that certainly helped to motivate us."
 
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) did the majority of the damage for the Cardinals, as the sophomore recorded his first collegiate hat trick—Saint Mary's fifth of the season—in the game's first two periods.
 
Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) and Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn.) also scored for the Cardinals, who picked up their 14th win of the season—the most since Saint Mary's went 14-11 during the 1997-98 season.
 
The Pipers actually got on the board first, as Austin Cihak scored at 11:32 of the opening period. The lead lasted just 41 seconds, however, as Portner got the equalizer—his second goal in as many nights—and Kinne added his first of the night to make it 3-1 Saint Mary's after the opening 20 minutes.
 
Mezzano and Kinne sandwiched second-period goals around one by Hamline's Charlie Adams to give the Cardinals what appeared to be a commanding 5-2 lead after two periods.
 
Hamline scored 49 seconds into the third period and Adams added his second of the night at 9:06 to cut the Cardinal lead to 5-4.
 
That, however, would be as close as Hamline would get, as the Cardinals and goalie Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) shut the door to preserve the win.
 
Heinle finished with 49 saves—two shy of his career high—in goal for the Cardinals, while two HU goalies combined to stop 18 of Saint Mary's 23 shots on goal.