WINONA, Minn. — It was a memorable weekend for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team in general—and
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) in particular.
The Cardinals locked up their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff appearance since 2003-04 with a thrilling, 4-3 overtime win over Hamline last Friday.
A day later, the Cardinals completed their conference sweep of the Pipers with yet another heart-pounding, one-goal victory—propelling Saint Mary's into second place in the final conference standings for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign.
And Kinne was a major factor in the Cardinals' monumental regular season ending sweep.
The Cardinal sophomore had a hand in six of the team's nine goals, collecting three goals and three assists in helping Saint Mary's nail down the No. 2 seed—and a home MIAC Playoff semifinal game against Concordia on Saturday.
And Kinne's efforts did not go unnoticed, as he was named MIAC Men's Hockey Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
Kinne was in a giving mood on Friday, recording his first collegiate three-assist game—including helping set up
Chad Cesarz's (Jackson, Mich.) game-winning goal 2:13 into overtime.
In the team's rematch on Saturday, it was the rest of the Cardinals who were in the giving mood—with Kinne as the main recipient.
Fresh off that first collegiate three-assist performance, Kinne notched his first collegiate hat trick—including what proved to be the game-winner late in the second period—to complete his six-point weekend.
With his six points vs. the Pipers, Kinne has now recorded at least one point in seven straight games—owning 14 points (6 G, 8 A) during that stretch—and heads into post-season play with seven goals and 12 assists in 15 games.
With their two wins over Hamline last weekend, the Cardinals head into Saturday's post-season showdown against Concordia—a team they split with just two weeks ago—with a 14-9-2 overall record, marking the most wins since Saint Mary's went 14-11-0 during the 1997-98 campaign.
