WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's hockey team, the recipe for success has been pretty simple: Hold your opponent to less than two goals.
 
Heading into Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Hamline, the Cardinals were a perfect 7-0-0 when limiting their foes to less than three goals.
 
Make that 8-0-0.
 
Saint Mary's scored three unanswered goals—erasing an early 1-0 Hamline lead—cruising to a 3-1 victory over the Pipers at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"I'm really proud of the way the guys played," said Saint Mary's coach Bill Moore. "That was a playoff-type win against a very good Hamline team. I've been saying all season that the key for us is to play well defensively—when we hold our opponents to less than three goals, we are tough to beat.
 
"Now the key is to keep the momentum going and put the same type of effort together (in the rematch) on Saturday."
 
Hamline scored the only goal of the first period, as Brandon's Reinholz wrist shot from the top of the slot clanked off the inside of the post and beat Cardinal goalie Aaron Davis (Mound, Minn.) midway through the opening stanza.
 
The Cardinals netted the equalizer at 7:25 of the second period, when Seth Kamrass (Peachtree Corners, Ga.) rifled a shot past HU goalie Justin Qvale. Jay Heinle (York, Pa.) and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) picked up assists on Kamrass' second goal of the season.
 
Saint Mary's took its first lead at 16:38 of the second period, as Chad Cesarz (Jackson, Mich.) one-timed a picture-perfect pass from Kyle Meeh (Fenton, Mo.) and fired a laser past Qvale to put the Cardinals up 2-1 heading into the third period.
 
Nick Albergo (Elmhurst, Ill.) gave the Cardinals a little breathing room early in the third period, breaking in alone on Qvale and beating the Piper netminder with a nifty backhand-forehand-backhand deke for his fourth of the season—and a 3-1 Saint Mary's advantage.
 
An advantage the Cardinals would not relinquish—thanks in part to the play of Davis over the game's final 20 minutes. The Cardinal junior stopped all 21 of the Pipers' 22 shots, including 11 in the third period, in helping Saint Mary's collect its second straight win.
 
The Cardinals (6-3-0 MIAC, 10-6-2 overall) and Pipers (4-4-1 MIAC, 7-7-3 overall) are back on the ice on Saturday, heading to Oscar Johnson Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for the second game of their two-game conference series. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.