By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — In the craziness that is the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's hockey playoff chase—in which six teams are still battling for one of the four remaining post-season invitations—Saint Mary's University of Minnesota coach Bill Moore was stressing an age-old approach: One game at a time.
 
And that game was Friday night's showdown against Hamline at the Minnesota Wild TRIA Rink.
 
A showdown the Cardinals dominated from start-to-finish.
 
Fueled by a pair of two-goal periods, the Cardinals dealt the Pipers a 4-2 conference setback, and can now turn their one-game-at-a-time focus to Saturday's rematch with the Pipers—and the possibility of a two-game sweep.
 
The Cardinals made the most of their offensive opportunities in the game's opening 20 minutes, firing nine shots on Hamline goalie Evan Robert—and scoring twice.
 
Dylan Robertson (Alpharetta, Ga.)  got the Cardinals on the board at 13:32 of the first period, beating Robert off an assist from Kellen Wasell (Edmonds, Wash.) for his third goal of the season.
 
Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) pushed Saint Mary's advantage to 2-0 late in the period, scoring his first goal in a Cardinal uniform with 1:31 remaining before intermission. Brother Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Ben Owen (Allen, Texas) picked up the assists, as the Cardinals heading into the locker room after 20 minutes maintaining a two-goal cushion.
 
The Pipers cut the Cardinals' lead in half midway through the second period, as Chad Hennum foiled Cardinal goalie Aaron Davis' (Mound, Minn.), scoring his third of the season to make it a 2-1 game through 40 minutes.
 
After being held off the scoreboard through the game's middle period, the Cardinals did not waste any time finding the back of the net in the third, getting a goal from Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.)—off assists from Robertson and Ryan Charko (Warren, N.J.)—just 57 seconds into the third period to make it a 3-1 Saint Mary's lead.
 
Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) continued his offensive magic, recording a point in his eighth straight game—this one a goal with 4:16 remaining in regulation to put the Cardinals in front 4-1.
 
HU's Russ Jordan cut the deficit back to two, 4-2, with a goal at 18:25, but it was too little, too late, as the Cardinals pushed their unbeaten streak to seven straight (5-0-2).
 
Davis made 20 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Robert stopped 30 of Saint Mary's 34 shots for the Pipers.
 
The Cardinals (5-5-3 MIAC, 8-10-4 overall)—who are currently sitting in sixth place, one point behind Concordia and two back of fourth-place Gustavus—conclude their two-game conference series with the Pipers on Saturday, heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 7 p.m. matchup Saturday evening.