WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's men's hockey team (6-6-1, 3-3-0) came up just short in a hard-fought conference battle, falling 5-3 to Gustavus Adolphus (10-5-1, 6-2-0) on home ice. The Cardinals erupted for three power-play goals in the third period, but an early hole proved too much to climb out of.

Saint Mary's brought energy from the opening drop, winning the faceoff and applying early pressure, but Gustavus struck first at 7:18 to grab the lead. The Gusties added another late in the period to take a 2-0 advantage despite the Cardinals controlling stretches of play and the faceoff circle.

The second period was a defensive grind. 

Saint Mary's continued to win draws and generate chances, but Gusties goaltender Marko Belak stood tall, turning aside quality looks from Blake Green and Colin Tushie. A late power play gave the Cardinals a chance to break through, but the score remained unchanged heading into the third.

The Cardinals roared back in the final period. 

Carter Newpower got Saint Mary's on the board with a power-play goal, and Joona Juntunen followed with two more man-advantage tallies to pull the Cardinals within one at 4-3. 

Momentum swung back to Gustavus, however, as the Gusties answered with a short-handed goal and sealed the win with an empty-netter in the closing seconds.

Newpower finished with three points on a goal and two assists, while Juntunen added two goals and an assist, all on the power play. 

The Cardinals will travel to Beloit College next Friday, Jan. 14 for a quick nonconference stretch of a weekend. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.