BLAINE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team found themselves playing catch-up all night in the Cardinals' season-opener against St. Thomas Friday evening.
 
And it took 59:35 for the Cardinals to catch up—but they finally did.
 
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) scored with 25 seconds remaining regulation to earn Saint Mary's a 3-3 nonconference tie against the Tommies during the opening day of the MIAC Men's Hockey Showcase at Schwan's Super Rink.
 
"It was a good start for us," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore, whose team lost the shootout to the Tommies, 1-0. "I thought we got better every period, and at this time in the season, that's what you want to be doing.
 
"We had a lot of young guys in the lineup—especially on the defense—and I thought they all performed very well."
 
But it was the veteran Kinne who came through when the Cardinals needed it most.
 
Trailing 3-2 and just coming off killing a penalty, Kinne netted the equalizer for Saint Mary's, banging a Kyle Meeh (St. Louis, Mo.) rebound past UST goalie Benjamin Myers to earn the Cardinals the 3-3 tie.

St. Thomas scored first, as Cullen Willox beat Cardinal goalkeeper Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) with less than five minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
 
UST pushed its lead to 2-0 midway through the second period on a goal by Ben Vickich, but Saint Mary's quickly answered, as Mike Mezzano (Woodbury, Minn.) netted the Cardinals' first goal of the season—on the power play—to cut the deficit to 2-1.
 
The Tommies, however, would regain a two-goal cushion, as Cullen Willox scored his second of the game at 15:43, giving St. Thomas a 3-1 edge heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
And what a third period it proved to be.
 
Joey Mavrin (Lockport, Ill.) netted his first goal in a Cardinal uniform, a power-play tally at 11:02, to pull the Cardinals within one—and set up Kinne's last-second heroics
 
Heinle stopped 27 of the Tommies' 30 shots in goal for the Cardinals, while Myers finished with 35 saves between the pipes for UST.
 
The Cardinals (0-0-1 overall) are back in action on Sunday, returning to the Schwan's Super Rink for a 2:30 p.m. nonconference game against Concorida.