WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team scored five third-period goals to overcome a 2-0 deficit and defeat Saint Mary's University (Minn.), 5-2, on Saturday evening at SMU Ice Arena.

After winning the series opener 8-2 the night before, Saint Mary's (8-8-1, 4-4-0 MIAC) scored once in each of the first two periods before St. Olaf (11-5-1, 5-3-0 MIAC) tallied five unanswered goals over the final 13-plus minutes of the game to rally and earn a split. Sophomore Matthew Pointer scored two of the five third-period goals, including the game-winner, for the Oles, while sophomore Troy Bowditch and first year Jonathan Panisa had a goal and an assist apiece.

The Cardinals opened the scoring just 1:37 into the game on a goal by Nathan Solis and added a power-play goal at 12:49 of the second period to build a 2-0 lead through two periods. Trailing by two, the Oles began their comeback with a goal from sophomore Sean Walsh at 6:21 of the third period before knotting the score with a power-play goal on a blast from the left point by Panisa less than six minutes later.

Pointer broke the deadlock just 1:44 after Panisa's tying goal, jamming the puck in from in close at the 13:46 mark off assists from Panisa and junior Kaz Matsuo for what proved to be the game-winning goal. Less than five minutes later, Pointer completed his first-career two-goal game and gave St. Olaf an insurance goal with 1:28 to go, intercepting a clearing pass in the Saint Mary's defensive zone and firing the puck home to make it 4-2. Bowditch added an empty-netter with 32 seconds remaining to cap the five-goal third period.

After being held to 15 shots on goal over the first two periods, St. Olaf generated 15 shots on goal over the final 20 minutes. Junior Lukas Haugen made 17 of his 32 saves in the third period to pick up his sixth victory of the season, while A.J. Ruskowski had 25 saves in the loss for the hosts.

In a game that included 11 minor penalties, the Cardinals were 1-for-6 on the power play and the Oles were 1-for-5 on the man advantage.

Next weekend, St. Olaf takes on the College of Sc. Scholastica in a MIAC series, beginning with a 7 p.m. start at St. Olaf Ice Arena on Friday, Jan. 20.