WINONA, Minn. — After being shut out in each of its two nonconference games against Lake Forest last weekend, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team was in dire need of an offensive jumpstart.
 
And Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) provided just such a spark.
 
The Cardinal senior scored just 30 seconds into the opening period of Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against St. Thomas.
 
Unfortunately, while the Cardinals struck in the game's opening minute, the Tommies waited until the final seconds of regulation—scoring the game-tying goal with 5.3 seconds remaining to lift UST to a 2-2 tie with Saint Mary's at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"That's a tough one," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor. "I was really proud of the way we played tonight—it was a total team effort from start to finish. I'm happy to get the (conference) point, but to give up a goal in the final seconds like that, it's a tough pill to swallow."
 
Hannula picked up her fifth goal of the season in the game's opening 30 seconds off an assist from Jamie Henderson (Madison, Wis.)—and the Cardinals made that one-goal lead stand up through the game's first two periods.
 
And after managing just the one goal through the game's opening 40 minutes, the two teams combined for three in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
 
Hannah Croonquist (St. Paul, Minn.) pushed the Cardinals' lead to 2-0, taking a feed from Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and beating Mackenzie Torpy for her second goal of the year.
 
UST finally broke through against Saint Mary's Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) at 8:57 of the third, as Kathryn Larson beat the sophomore goalie for her team-leading seventh goal of the season—cutting the Cardinal lead to 2-1.
 
It appeared like the Cardinals would hang on for the one-goal victory, but UST's Demi Cooper had other ideas, corralling a loose puck in front of the Saint Mary's  net and beating Corcoran with 5.3 seconds remaining.
 
The Tommies had the upper hand in the overtime period, and almost picked up the come-from-behind win—with another last-second goal—but Corcoran stymied Allison Parnell on the breakaway with four seconds remaining to seal keep the game deadlocked.
 
Corcoran finished with 41 saves—one shy of her career high—for the Cardinals, while Torpy kicked out 17 of Saint Mary's 19 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (1-4-2 MIAC, 4-8-2 overall) and Tommies conclude their two-game MIAC series on Saturday, as the two teams head to St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for a 2 p.m. conference showdown.