WINONA, Minn. — After Friday's 3-3 overtime tie against UW-Eau Claire—the third time in as many games this season that the Cardinals have gone into overtime—Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey coach Bill Moore jokingly reminded his squad that he didn't get paid extra by working overtime.
 
And there was no extra hockey needed Saturday evening when Saint Mary's returned to the ice against UW-River Falls—the Cardinals made sure of that.
 
Saint Mary's erupted for four first-period goals—including two by Jay Heinle (York, Pa.)—and got another two-goal effort by Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) in recording a 5-3 nonconference win at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"I was very happy with the way we played tonight" said Moore. "I thought we did a really good job of maintaining our composure in a very physical game. It's definitely nice to get the win—and it was good to see the guys kick the offense up a notch."
 
The two teams did not waste any time igniting some offensive fireworks, combining for six first-period goals—including three straight by the Cardinals in the first 11:34.
 
Heinle­—Saint Mary's goal-scoring leader a year ago—kicked things off just 1:50 into the opening period, netting his first of the season, off assists from Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) and Ryan Charko (Warren, N.J.).
 
Albergo was in the giving mood again midway through the first period, feeding a pass to Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), who beat UW-River Falls' goalie Alex Okicki for his team-leading third goal of the season.
 
Less than a minute later, Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) got into the scoring column, tallying his first of the season—assisted by Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.)—to push the Cardinal advantage to 3-0.
 
And things were just getting started.
 
UW-River Falls' Joe Drapluk cut Saint Mary's lead to 3-1 with his third of the season at 13:33—but Albergo, Heinle, and the Cardinals weren't finished. Albergo picked up his third assist of the period—on Heinle's second goal of the stanza—at 16:21 to make it a 4-1 Saint Mary's lead.
 
The Falcons' Michael Lant posted the sixth—and final—goal of the opening 20 minutes, beating Cardinal goalie Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) from the slot with 2:18 remaining.
 
The 15-minute intermission seemed to cool off the teams' high-octane offenses, as the Falcons' Eddie Matsushima accounted for the only goal in the middle stanza, scoring just 3:09 into the period on the power play, reducing the Cardinals' lead to 4-3 heading into the third period.
 
The Cardinal lead would remain 4-3 until late in the third, when Walz iced the win with his second of the game—and of the season—with 2:02 remaining.
 
Davis collected his first win in a Cardinal uniform, stopping 28 of the Falcons' 31 shots, while Okicki stopped nine first-period shots, before being pulled for Zach Quinn, who made 15 saves over the game's final two periods.
 
After four straight nonconference games, the Cardinals kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend, hosting Bethel in a 7 p.m. showdown at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Friday, before heading to the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., for Saturday's 7 p.m. rematch.