WINONA, Minn. — With temperatures in the single digits and a wind-chill of well below zero, it's only fitting that Winter was the hero for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team Saturday afternoon.
 
Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.), that is.
 
Winter scored his first two collegiate goals and assisted on another — all in the Cardinals' three-goal second period — as Saint Mary's collected its third straight win, beating Concordia 3-1 at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
After a scoreless and sluggish first period, the Cardinals — who are now 3-0 for the first time since 2001-02 — came out firing on all cylinders in the second period.
 
And Winter was driving the Cardinal bus.
 
The freshman netted his first collegiate goal two minutes into the second period to break the scoreless deadlock, then added his second of the game — and of his career — five minutes later to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage.
 
Winter picked up his third point of the period at 8:52, assisting on Tyson Liverance's (Burford, Ontario) first goal of the season to push the Saint Mary's lead to 3-0.
 
The Cobbers cut the deficit to 3-1— and foiled Cardinal goalie Al Rogers (North Haven, Conn.) shutout bid — with 30.1 seconds remaining in the second period, but Rogers & Co. stood tall in the third period to seal the win.
 
Along with Winter's three-point night, the Cardinals also got a pair of assists from both Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) and Tommy Stang (Mendota Heights, Minn.), while Rogers kicked out 26 of the 27 shots he faced — including all 15 Cobber shots in the third period when SMU was outshot 15-4.
 
The Cardinals (1-0-0 MIAC, 3-0-0 overall) will go for their season-opening fourth straight — a feat that has not been achieved since 1972-73 when they opened the season with 11 consecutive wins — on Tuesday, when they entertain St. Scholastica in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference contest at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.