Men's hockey takes advantage of opportunities

Hamline (6-11, 2-6 in the MIAC) made the most of their six shots on goal in the first period by scoring a pair of power-play goals.

Sophomore Dustin Fulton cracked the scoreboard at the 3:24 of the first period when he fired a wrister from the left faceoff dot past Cardinal goaltender Dan Smith.

Later in the period, sophomore Joe Long scored his 12th goal of the season to give Hamline a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period.

St. Mary's (7-11-1, 4-5-1) stormed back to tie the game at 2-2. Jesse Polk scored the lone goal at 4:10 of the second period to cut the lead to 2-1. After two periods, the Cardinal had outshot the Pipers 27-8, including 17-2 in the second period.

Adam Gill eventually knotted the game at 2-2 with a power play goal at 1:12 of the third.

But the Pipers responded quickly. Fulton scored his second goal of the game at 3:32 of the period. After a five-minute major, Long put the game away with his second goal of the contest. The Pipers dominated the third period, outshooting the Cardinals 10-4.

Hamline goaltender Matt Wanvig stopped 29 shots in the win. Smith made 14 saves in a losing effort for St. Mary's

Hamline will host St. Olaf Friday night at Drake Arena. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m.