By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team knew exactly what they needed to do Saturday evening to secure the fifth and final Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff berth.
 
Thanks to Concordia's 1-0, sweep-clinching win over Gustavus, the road to the post-season was a simple one — all the Cardinals needed was to post a second straight win over Hamline.
 
Easier said than done.
 
Hamline raced out to a 3-0 first-period lead, Saint Mary's rallied to pull even with three unanswered goals, but the Pipers outscored the Cardinals 3-1 over the final period and a half in dealing SMU a 7-4 conference setback at TRIA Rink.
 
And leaving the Cardinals still needing one win in their final two-game series of the season against St. Olaf to receive that conference tournament invite.
 
The Pipers put the Cardinals in a deep, deep hole after the game's opening 20 minutes, as Weiland Parrish, Johnson Sullivan, and Zak Lambrecht found the back of the net to give Hamline a commanding 3-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
The hole may have been deep, but it wasn't deep enough, as the Cardinals climbed out with three goals in the first 11:55 of the middle frame. Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board 2:48 into the second period, and Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) scored for the second straight game two minutes later to make it 3-2.
 
Andrew Cummings (Anchorage, Alaska) completed the comeback with a goal at 11:55 that made it 3-3.
 
Unfortunately, once the Cardinals climbed out of that three-goal hole, Hamline pushed them right back in — scoring back-to-back goals two minutes apart late in the period to give HU a 5-3 lead heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Saint Mary's clawed within one, 5-4, on Ryan Charko's (Warren, N.J.) second goal in as many nights at 6:37 of the third period, but the Pipers sealed the win with a pair of goals in the final two minutes — including an empty netter by Bailey Martin with 44 seconds remaining.
 
The Cardinals (5-7-2 MIAC, 6-14-3 overall) close out their regular-season schedule with a pair of games against St. Olaf next weekend. Saint Mary's will host the Oles in a 7 p.m. conference matchup next Friday, with the two teams then traveling to the St. Olaf Ice Arena in Northfield, Minn., for the 7:30 p.m. rematch the following day.