DULUTH, Minn. — Getting the lead wasn't the issue for the Saint Mary's University men's hockey team Tuesday evening against St. Scholastica — holding onto that lead was.
 
The Cardinals led on three separate occasions — 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 — against the Saints … for a grand total of two minutes and 19 seconds.
 
St. Scholastica had an instant answer for each of Saint Mary's first three goals. Unfortunately for coach Ryan Egan, the Cardinals had no answer for the Saints' five-goal second period, as CSS rallied from those three, one-goal deficits and dealt SMU a 9-3 nonconference setback at Mars Lakeview Arena.
 
For the second straight game – and the fifth time in six contests this season — the Cardinals struck first, breaking the 0-0 deadlock on Brady Lindauer's (Cary, Ill.) second goal of the season at 9:39 of the opening period.
 
The lead barely lasted a minute, however, as St. Scholastica answered just 1:14 after Lindauer's tally, when Nate Pionk beat Cardinal goalie Connor Close (Des Moines, Iowa) for his third goal of the year.
 
Ryan Stoynich (Calgary, Alberta) kicked off a wild, high-scoring second period, giving Saint Mary's its second lead of the game just 28 seconds into the period, netting his team-leading third of the season on the power-play.
 
Once again, the Cardinal lead was short-lived — 58 seconds to be exact — as St. Scholastica's Parker Mismash netted the equalizer, beating Close for goal No. 1 on the year.
 
Lindauer scored his second of the game — giving the sophomore his first collegiate multiple-goal game — as Saint Mary's regained the upper hand at 6:27 of the middle frame.
 
But … you guessed it … the lead did not last long.
 
In fact, this time the Cardinal advantage lasted all of five seconds, as Pionk netted his second of the night, and three minutes later, the Saints would strike again for their first lead of the game, 4-3.
 
And the Saints were just getting warmed up, scoring twice more before the period ended — including Pionk's third of the night — to give St. Scholastica a commanding three-goal, 6-3 cushion heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
?St. Scholastica would tack on three more goals in the third period — the first by Arkhip Ledenkov at 2:36 and then back-to-back power-play tallies by Michael Talbot and Sam Fuss — to round out the scoring.
 
The Cardinals (4-2-0 overall) are back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, playing host to Bethel in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.