By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) entered Saturday's rematch against St. Thomas riding four-goal point-scoring streaks.
 
And the Cardinal duo exited the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against St. Thomas with those streaks still in tact.
 
Stoynich scored once and assisted on another and Stang scored a third-period tally in leading the Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the Tommies at the St. Thomas Arena — and a split in the team's two-game conference series.
 
St. Thomas struck first, getting on the board just 7:35 into the opening period when Luke Radetic beat Cardinal goalie Al Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) with his sixth goal of the season.
 
From there, however, the Cardinals offense took center stage.
 
Owen Sikich (Wolfeboro, N.H.) pulled the Cardinals even, 1-1, netting his second of the season — off assists from Stoynich and Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.).
 
And Saint Mary's was just heating up.
 
Brady Lindauer (Cary, Ill.) — who scored his first collegiate goal in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Tommies — found the back of the net for the second time in as many nights, this time on the power play, to give Saint Mary's a 2-1 lead.
 
Less than a minute later, Stoynich netted the Cardinals' second straight power-play goal to push the Saint Mary's advantage to 3-1 heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Tommy Stang — who assisted on one of the Cardinals' four goals in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Tommies — gave the Cardinals some breathing room, netting his fourth goal in the last five games, yet another Saint Mary' power-play goal — to make it 4-1 at 10:59 of the third period.
 
And while Sikich, Lindauer, Stoynich, and Tommy Stang were doing their part putting the puck in the back of the next, Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) — who posted his second two-goal game of the season against UST on Friday — was doing his part setting his teammates up, as the senior defenseman posted his first career three-assist night. Jack Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.) chipped in a pair of helpers, and Trevor Wilhelm (St. Louis, Mo.) also had an assist.
 
Rogers — the reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week — kicked out 28 of the Tommies' 29 shots, while UST goalie Camden Burggrabe finished with 20 saves.
 
The Cardinals (4-2-0 MIAC, 6-6-1 overall) step out of conference play for the final time next weekend at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, hosting UW-Stout in a 7 p.m. contest on Friday, before entertaining UW-River Falls at 7:30 p.m. the following evening. The Tommies (5-3-0 MIAC, 7-6-1 overall) return home to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., next weekend for a pair of nonconference games. UST will host Northland on Friday at 7 p.m. and UW-Superior at 4 p.m. the following afternoon.