WINONA, Minn. — Slow starts have plagued the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team all season.

So have fast, but not fast enough, finishes.

Entering last Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Thomas, the Cardinals had been outscored 15-9 in the first period, while outscoring their opponents 13-8 and 13-10 in the second and third periods, respectively.

Yet, despite their constant late-game offense outbursts, the Cardinals did not have a come-from-behind win to their credit.

And the Cardinals could not have picked a better time to break that trend.

SMU got a pair of goals from Adam Fingerhut (Oak Brook, Ill.) and another from Jesse Polk (Hastings, Minn.) in a three-goal third period as the Cardinals rallied from a 2-1 second-period deficit to beat St. Thomas, 4-2 last Saturday — snapping their three-game MIAC losing streak and earning a much-needed conference split against the Tommies.

"We knew we had to play better than we did Friday night — and I thought, for the most part, we did," said SMU caoch Don Olson, whose team struggled offensively in losing to the Tommies 3-1 in the teams' first meetring Friday. "Once again we came out of the gates a little slow, but it was nice to see us capitalize on our chances (in the third period) — and, more importantly, get a win for the effort."

Which is something the Cardinals hadn't been able to do previously.

Against St. Norbert on Nov. 6, SMU rallied from a 4-2 deficit with a pair of late second-period goals, but lost 5-4. The following weekend, SMU netted its lone goal in the third period of a 2-1 loss to UW-River Falls, then scored a pair of third-period goals against UW-Superior, only to fall 3-2.

And it didn't stop there.

Last weekend in Game 2 vs. Bethel, SMU gave up four first-period goals, but rallied with three of its own in the second period, only to once again come up short, 5-3.

"We've put ourselves in position to win almost every game we have played thus far this season," said Olson. "But in a lot of those games, we've dug ourselves such a big hole, we haven't been able to climb all the way out.

Until Saturday.

UST got on the board first on a first-period goal by Colin Greenless. Cullum Buetow-Staples (Arden Hills, Minn.) knotted the game 1-1 midway through the second period, but Nick Harris' goal gave the Tommies a 2-1 advantage heading into the third period.

The Cardinals' period.

Fingerhut tallied a powerplay goal early in the third to tie the game, then added his second of the game minutes later. Polk gave SMU some breathing room with his team-leading sixth of the season on the powerplay with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

"St. Thomas is one of the top teams in the conference, not to mention the West (Region), and for us to come away with a win like that — in their building — is a huge boost for this team," said Olson, whose team snapped a five-game losing streak against the Tommies with Saturday's win. "This team has worked very hard all season — they've stuck together through the good times and the bad, and that shows the outstanding character of this team.

"This is a great way to head into the (Christmas) break," said Olson, whose team is now off for finals and the Christmas holidays — returning to action on Jan. 7-8 at Milwaukee School of Engineering. "(Saturday's win) is a nice early Christmas present for all of us."