WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's hockey team entered their weekend series against Concordia knowing exactly what they needed — two wins, period, end of discussion.

No ties, and certainly no losses, would do for the Cardinals, whose MIAC playoff hopes had been put on life support following last weekend's back-to-back losses to Gustavus.

SMU got past the first hurdle last Friday night, rallying from two goals down with four unanswered goals en route to a 4-2 win.

Saturday afternoon, the Cardinals picked up right where they left off, scoring twice in the first period, then holding on for dear life to post their second straight 4-2 victory.

And earn that crucial MIAC sweep.

"You've got to play them one at a time, but these were two big, big wins for us," said SMU coach Don Olson, whose team swept a conference series for the first time this season. "Everyone here knew how important these games were. There's plenty of hockey still to be played, but with these wins, we've given ourselves a chance. Our backs are still against the wall, but we've still got a shot."

Thanks in part to a special performance from the Cardinals' special teams. SMU not only netted a pair of powerplay goals — the first by Graham Murphy (St. Louis, Mo.) 2:58 into the opening period, and the second by Marcus Reszka (Winona, Minn.) to give SMU a 3-1 lead at the 7:32 mark of the third period — but also picked up two shorthanded tallies, including an empty netter by Chad Damerow (Albert Lea, Minn.) with two seconds remaining in regulation to give SMU the two-goal advantage.

"Special teams were the difference — our guys worked hard and were rewarded for their efforts," said Olson. "I thought we moved the puck well (on the powerplay) and we did a great job of killing — it was an outstanding effort by those guys."

David Gross (Grasston, Minn.) gave SMU a 2-0 lead with SMU's first shorthanded goal eight minutes after Murphy's tally as the Cardinals went into the locker room after one period leading 2-0.

The Cobbers pulled within one early in the second period as Steve Rosenfeldt beat SMU goalie Ryne Ess (Eden Prairie, Minn.) at the 5:34 mark. SMU regained its two-goal lead on Reszka's fourth goal of the season at 7:32 of the third period.

And then the Cardinals made things tough on themselves, taking three penalties — including a five-minute major — in the final 8:17. Concordia once again got within a goal on a tally by Mike Vlasak at 16:10, but Damerow sealed the deal with his sixth of the year three minutes later.

"I'm very happy with our performance this weekend," said Olson "The effort and the energy were outstanding — hopefully we can just keep things rolling."