The Willmar Cardinals survived a determined comeback attempt by the Sartell-St.Stephen Sabres on the way to a 4-2 win.

Willmar took a 4-1 lead during the third period, only to have Sartell-St.Stephen storm back on a Matthew Bakken goal 42 seconds into the third period to pull to two goals down.

The Cardinals excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances.

Willmar was led by Hunter Schneider, who grabbed three goals and one assist. Willmar also got a goal from Trey Tollefson as well. More assists for Willmar came via Zech Streed, who had one.

Kyle Erickson also scored for Sartell-St.Stephen. In addition, Sartell-St.Stephen received assists from Aaron Randall and Sam Zwiener, who contributed one a piece.

Joe Benson recorded 28 saves for the Cardinals. Willmar incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. The Sabres' Elliott Brookins stopped 23 shots out of the 26 that he faced. Sartell-St.Stephen ended with nine minutes in penalty time with two minors and one major.