ST. CLOUD, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University and Saint John's men's hockey teams squared off Friday night, the Cardinals survived a late third-period goal by SJU's Huba Sekesi to beat the Johnnies in overtime, 4-3.
 
Saturday evening, Sekesi was at it again, scoring his second goal in as many nights—once again, late in the third period.
 
Unfortunately for coach Bill Moore, this time around, the Cardinals could not recover from the Johnnie senior's late game goal, as Sekesi's third-period tally proved to be the game-winner, as SJU handed the Cardinals a 5-4 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Municipal Athletic Complex.
 
"I was happy with the way we came out in the first period—especially after locking up a play-off berth (Friday night)," said Moore. "We just couldn't hold on to the lead tonight."
 
Saint Mary's—coming off an MIAC Playoff-clinching victory in the teams' opening game on Friday—erupted for three goals in the game's opening 20 minutes. Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) and Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored 1:19 apart in the first four minutes to give Saint Mary's a quick, 2-0 advantage.
 
Robb Stautz cut the deficit to 2-1 with a goal at 10:44, but Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) answered less than two minutes later to push Saint Mary's lead back to two, 3-1.
 
The Johnnies would once again cut the deficit to one, 3-2, before the period ended, but Taylor Portner (Andover, Minn.) kicked off the second period with his seventh goal of the season, and the Cardinals again led by two, 4-2.
 
That, however, would be the last time the Cardinals would put a shot past SJU goalie Andrew Lindgren, and the Johnnie offense was just getting warmed up, as Saint John's scored three times in the third period—including Sekesi's tally with 2:27 remaining—to seal the come-from-behind victory.
 
Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) did his part for the Cardinals, stopping a career-high 50 shots, while Lindgren finished with 22 saves between the pipes for the Johnnies.
 
The Cardinals (9-6-1 MIAC, 13-9-3 Overall), who already clinched an MIAC Playoff spot, must now wait until after next weekend's conference games to see who, and when, they will face to kick off post-season play.