WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey coach Terry Mannor summed up the end result of Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with Gustavus in three words: "This one hurts."
 
And that was no understatement.
 
Gustavus' Emily Reibert scored with 45 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Gusties to a 3-2 overtime win over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"For us to play as well as we did—especially in the third period—and to lose like that is really heartbreaking," said Mannor. "This one hurts, plain and simple."
 
The Gusties did not waste any time get its offense in gear, scoring less than two minutes into the opening period, as Kalley Spreiter's shot from the point was blocked by a Cardinal defender, but the puck deflected right to Allie Stranger on the back door, who tapped it into the net for the game's first goal.
 
Saint Mary's answered at 10:24 of the first period with a power-play tally, as Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) took a feed from Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and rifled a shot from the point that found its way through traffic in front of the net and past GAC goalie Lindsay Hibbard.
 
Thanks to the play of Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.), who stopped 11 of the Gusties' 12 first-period shots, the score would remain deadlocked at 1-1 for the remainder of the first period.
 
For the second period in a row, however, the Gusties were in quick-strike mode to open the middle frame, as Allie Lewis grabbed a loose puck at the Saint Mary's blue line and broke in alone on Herrmann, ripping a shot over the senior goalie's glove to give Gustavus a 2-1 advantage just 1:03 into the period.
 
There would be no early third-period Gustie fireworks—in fact, it was the Cardinals who did all the damage in the third period, as Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) netted the equalizer with 4:29 remaining in regulation to make it a 2-2 game—and force the five-minute extra session.
 
It appeared as if the Cardinals might escape with a key conference point, only to have Reibert dash those hopes with her fourth goal of the season  with 45 seconds remaining.
 
Herrmann finished with 39 saves in goal for the Cardinals—including 17 in the second period—while Hibbard recorded 13 saves for the Gusties.
 
The Cardinals (5-6-2 MIAC, 6-11-3 overall) get another shot at the Gusties on Saturday, as the two teams head to Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn., for a 2 p.m. conference rematch.