NORTHFIELD, Minn. — It was a weekend of collegiate firsts for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team.
 
Which resulted in another first — the Cardinals' first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of the season.
 
Just a day after Colin Tushie (Prior Lake, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate hat trick in a 5-3 Saint Mary's victory over St. Olaf, Noah Kiemel (Colorado Springs, Colo.) recorded his first career two-goal game and Connor Abric netted his first as a Cardinal to account for SMU's three goals in a 3-2, sweep-clinching victory over the Oles at the St. Olaf Ice Arena.
 
Kiemel got the Cardinals on the board first, scoring the only goal of the first period midway at 11:00 — off an assist from Bud Winter (St. Louis, Mo.) — to give SMU a 1-0 edge after 20 minutes of play.
 
The second period would unfold eerily similar to the first, with just one goal being scoring — at almost the exact same juncture in the period — with the goal coming at 11:19. This time, however, it would be St. Olaf cashing in, getting a power-play goal from Jonathan Panisa to knot the game at 1-1 heading into the third period.
 
Abric put the Cardinals back in front with his first goal in an SMU sweater 7:53 into the third period, but the Oles had an answer, scoring their second power-play goal less than two minutes after Abric's tally.
 
What the Oles didn't have an answer to, however, was Kiemel —who blistered a shot from the top of the circle over the shoulder of St. Olaf goalie Lukas Haugen and into the net for the eventual game-winner with 3:59 to play in regulation.
 
While Kiemel and Abric were doing their part on the offensive end, A.J. Ruskowski (Traverse City, Mich.) was doing his at the defensive end, kicking out 35 of the Oles' 37 shots on goal — including stopping 14 of 15 in the third period, when St. Olaf outshot SMU 15-5.
 
The Cardinals (3-4-1 MIAC, 5-9-2 overall) are now off until Jan. 16, when they close out the nonconference portion of their schedule with a road game at Lawrence. Opening face-off at the Appleton Ice Center in Appleton, Wis., is slated for 7 p.m.
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