NORTHFIELD, Minn. -The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team was less than two minutes away from its third straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Friday evening.

And then the Oles snatched the victory from the Cardinals' grasp.

St. Olaf scored the game-tying goal with 1:24 remaining in regulation, as the two teams battled to a 4-4 conference tie-with the Oles grabbing the extra conference point with a 2-0 win in the shootout.

"The guys played hard from start to finish," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. "We just weren't able to keep (St. Olaf) off the board late-it's the first time all year we haven't won the third period."

The Cardinals' line of Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) and Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) certainly did their part for the Cardinals, as the trio all scored first-period goals in giving Saint Mary's a 3-1 advantage after the game's opening 20 minutes.

Kinne kicked off the Cardinals' explosive first period, scoring his fifth of the season-off assists from Gruse and Cesarz-at 1:29.

St. Olaf evened things up three minutes later on a power-play goal by Gordon Wells, but Gruse and Cesarz would find the back of the next before the first period ended-with Kinne assisting on both tallies-to give Saint Mary's a two-goal cushion.

That two-goal cushion quickly transformed into a 3-3 deadlock, as St. Olaf scored two goals 54 seconds apart early in the second period. Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) would put Saint Mary's back out front with his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 15:10 of the middle period.

Saint Mary's would maintain that one-goal lead until the 18:36 mark of the third period, when Connor Quinn pulled the Oles even with a power-play goal.

Neither team would score in overtime, but the Oles scored on both of their shootout attempts, while St. Olaf goalie Jude Hull stopped both Cardinal attempts to give the Oles the additional conference point.

Phil Heinle (York, Pa.) finished with 27 saves in goal for Saint Mary's, while Hull, on in relief of starter Luke Andriuk late in the first period, recorded 29 saves.

The Cardinals (2-0-1 MIAC, 3-2-2 overall) and Oles are back on the ice on Saturday, as Saint Mary's hosts St. Olaf in the second game of the teams' two-game MIAC series. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.