WINONA, Minn. — After surrendering six goals in each of their last four games, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team went on the defensive Saturday in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch against Hamline.
 
And it paid off.
 
The Cardinals limited the high-scoring Pipers to just three goals—half of the six they tallied in Friday's 6-5 HU overtime win—and made their most of their own offensive opportunities en route to a 5-3 victory at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"That was a big win for us," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. "I thought our guys played hard all weekend, but tonight they really seemed to put it all together—offense, defense, goaltending, it was all there for us tonight."
 
After combining for seven goals in the first period on Friday—including five in the game's first 11 minutes—the Cardinals and Pipers only managed two first-period goals on Saturday.
 
And fortunately for Saint Mary's, both goals came off the sticks of Cardinals.
 
Jonathon Elliott (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) opened the scoring for Saint Mary's, netting his second of the season at 17:23. A minute later, it was Landon Farrell's (Rochester, Minn.) turn to score goal No. 2 on the season, giving Saint Mary's a 2-0 lead after the game's first 20 minutes.
 
The Pipers, however, didn't seem fazed by the two-goal deficit, scoring twice in a two-minute span before the second period was even three minutes old. Mitch Hall got HU on the board at 1:10, and, 2:13 later, it was Brandon Zurn's turn, beating Saint Mary's goalie Jake Tugnutt (Peterborough, Ontario) with his third goal of the weekend to pull the Pipers even, 2-2.
 
The Cardinals regained the lead on a goal by Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) with seven minutes remaining in the second period, as the junior snuck behind the HU defense, took a feed from Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and broke in alone on Piper goalie Justin Quale. Gruse fired a wrist shot that slipped between Quale's pads and into the net for his 12^th goal of the season—and second in as many days.
 
And Saint Mary's wasn't finished, as Michael Cimba (Willmette, Ill.) corralled a loose puck and shoved it past a fallen Quale with five minutes remaining to give the Cardinals their second two-goal cushion of the game, 4-2.
 
Hamline made things interesting—and a little stressful for coach Moore—when Zurn scored his second of the game with 6:05 remaining in the third to trim the Cardinal lead to 4-3.
 
Gruse, however, sealed the win for the Cardinals, recording his second of the game—an empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining.
 
The Cardinals (5-4-1 MIAC, 8-9-2 overall) return to their home ice on Friday, hosting Augsburg in the first game of their two-game conference series. Opening face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena. Saint Mary's and Augsburg will then head to Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, Minn., for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.