WINONA, Minn. — The first time the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Concordia men's hockey teams squared off this season, the game went into overtime—with the Cobbers escaping with a 3-2 win at the MIAC Hockey Showcase.
 
And after the first two periods Friday evening, it appeared like the Cardinals and Cobbers were headed for another barn-burner.
 
Concordia, however, had other ideas.
 
The Cobbers erupted for three third-period goals, breaking open a one-goal game and handing the Cardinals their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback of the season—a 5-1 decision at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"That was not one of our better performances," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. "Until we can get a little more net presence—get some bodies in front of the goalie—we are going to struggle offensively.
 
"We just didn't have any jump tonight—and that's disappointing."
 
Concordia struck first, getting a power-play goal at 14:25 of the opening period, as Jordan Christianson tipped a Jeremy Johnson slap shot over the shoulder of Saint Mary's goalie Phil Heinle (York, Pa.).
 
Thanks in large part to Heinle's 11 first-period saves—including a pair of highlight-reel, post-to-post pad saves—the Cardinals went into the locker room after the first period down just one, 1-0.
 
Twenty-six seconds into the second period, that deficit was erased, as Saint Mary's Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) scored his fifth of the season—off assists from Kelvin Walz (Woodbury, Minn.) and Jared Johnson (Hartland, Wis.)—on the power play to knot the game at 1-1.
 
The Cobbers regained the lead, 2-1, when Jordan Krebsbach one-timed a Garrett Hendrickson pass past Heinle with less than eight minutes remaining in the middle period.
 
And Krebsbach and Co. were at it again midway through the third period, as Krebsbach scored his second of the game—again assisted by Hendrickson and Zach Doerring—to give the Cobbers a 3-1 advantage. Hendrickson tacked on his fourth of the season four minutes later, and less than a minute after that, Doerring—off an assist from Hendrickson—made it 5-1.
 
Heinle finished with 26 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Sam Nelson stopped 36 Saint Mary's shots—12 in the first period, 12 in the second, and 12 in the third.
 
The Cardinals (4-1-0 MIAC, 5-3-2 overall) get another shot at the Cobbers on Saturday, when the same two teams return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a 2 p.m. conference rematch.