MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — Saturday's rematch between the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team and St. Thomas was nearly an exact replay of Friday's contest—in reverse.
 
A day after the Cardinals scored the game's first two goals—including one 30 seconds into the opening period—only to have St. Thomas rally for a pair of third-period goals to salvage a 2-2 tie, the two teams were at it again.
 
Only this time it was the Tommies who raced out to the 2-0 lead, only to have the Cardinals return the third-period favor with a pair of goals—including Jane Hannula's (Coon Rapids, Minn.) game-tying tally with less than three minutes remaining—to send the game into overtime deadlocked at 2-2.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this overtime ended 23 seconds earlier than Friday's, as UST's Hannah Bird scored her first of the season to give the Tommies the 3-2 win.
 
"That's two heartbreakers in two days," said Cardinal coach Terry Mannor, referring to the Tommies scoring with five seconds remaining in regulation to earn Friday's 2-2 tie, and netting the game-winner Saturday with 23 seconds left in overtime. "I thought we really played hard and it was great to see us battle back the way we did in the third period.
 
"Hopefully we can take the positives out to these two games and carry them over to our games against Hamline (next weekend)," Mannor added. "But there's no question, these two games sting a bit."
 
The Tommies needed just 1:16 of the first period to get on the scoreboard on a goal by Allie Borgstrom, and just seven minutes after that early period tally, UST's lead would grow to 2-0, as Demi Cooper netted her second goal in as many nights, beating Cardinal goalie Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) for goal No. 2 on the season.
 
The Saint Mary's defense shut down the Tommies over the next 32 minutes—thanks in large part to the play of Shields, who made 26 saves through the game's first two periods—but the Cardinals were still staring at a 2-0 deficit heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
And what a final 20 minutes it proved to be for the Cardinals.
 
Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) got Saint Mary's on the board midway through the final frame, and Hannula—who scored just 30 seconds into Friday's showdown against the Tommies—proved to be the late-game hero this time around, netting her sixth of the season with just 3:36 remaining in regulation to pull the Cardinals even, 2-2.
 
And force the five-minute overtime—and set up Bird's last-second heroics.
 
Shields made a season-high 41 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Mackenzie Torpey kicked out 15 of the 17 Saint Mary's shots she faced in goal for the Tommies.
 
The Cardinals (1-5-2 MIAC, 4-9-2 overall) are back in conference play with a pair of games against Hamline next weekend. Saint Mary's and HU will square off for a 7 p.m. contest at Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, before the two teams head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.