WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's men's hockey team headed into Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against Hamline having played 15 games without a multiple-goal scorer.
 
Make that 16.
 
The Cardinals got goals from four different players — including three in the first period — as Saint Mary's returned to conference play with a 4-2 win over the Pipers at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
Saint Mary's may not have gotten its first multiple-goal scorer in the 4-2 victory — but there were certainly plenty of firsts. Nathan Solis (Salve, Mich.) netted his first collegiate goal, Kellen Tharaldson (Wausau, Wis.) tallied his first career two-point game, and Callahan Nauss (Wayzata, Minn.) had a career-best four assists.
 
Saint Mary's wasted no time grabbing an early 2-0 lead — scoring twice in the game's first 3:03, thanks to Nauss and Tharaldson.
 
Solis kicked things off for the Cardinals, netting his first Cardinal goal — on SMU's first shot on goal — just 41 seconds into the opening period. Less than three minutes later, Nick Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) pushed the SMU lead to 2-0 with his second of the season.
 
Nauss and Tharaldson picked up the assists on both of the Cardinals' first two goals for their first collegiate multiple-point games — and the game wasn't even four minutes old.
 
And Nauss was just getting warmed up, as the freshman picked up assist No. 3 on the night on Gabe Potyk's (Lake Orion, Mich.) goal with 4:34 remaining in the period to give the Cardinals a commanding 3-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
The Cardinal offense went into hibernation in the game's middle period — and Hamline took advantage, getting goals from Jackson Wille and Ryan Murray four minutes apart to cut the Saint Mary's lead to one, 3-2.
 
With the Cardinals clinging to that one-goal lead, Thomas Magnavite (Chicago, Ill.) gave Saint Mary's a little breathing room with a goal at 14:22, and the assist went to ….  Who else? Nauss.
 
Connor Close (Des Moines, Iowa) picked up the win in goal for Saint Mary's, kicking out 25 of the Pipers' 27 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (4-3-0 MIAC, 6-9-1 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, head to TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minn., for the second game of their two-game conference series against the Pipers. Opening face-off is slated for 7 p.m.
 
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