Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Hamline learned a valuable lesson this past weekend — do not, under any circumstances, make the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team mad.

The Pipers scored the game's first goal in Saturday's MIAC game, putting an end to the Cardinals' three-game shutout streak.

Unfortunately for the Pipers, that goal is all it took to set the Cardinals into a rage. SMU scored 10 unanswered goals en route to a 10-1 victory, then added five more goals in Sunday's rematch as the Cardinals completed the sweep with a 5-0 victory.

"I thought after the first period on Saturday, we played very well all weekend," said SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk, whose team extended its winning streak to five straight. "Anytime you can come away from a conference series with two wins it's nice."

Nice wasn't exactly the word the Pipers would use when describing SMU's hospitality on Sunday.

Sarah Gibbons (Orland Park, Ill.) got the Cardinals on the board at the 11:40 mark of the first period as she laced a slap shot that beat Hamline goalie Emily Krinhop on the glove side.

Despite holding a 14-3 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, Gibbons' goal was the only one the Cardinals could muster as they took a 1-0 advantage into the locker room after one period.

Then Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) decided to take matters into her own hands.

The sophomore forward scored three straight goals — her team-leading 12th, 13th and 14th of the season — to give SMU a 4-0 cushion after two. Jaimie Mussehl (South St. Paul, Minn.) closed out the scoring for the Cardinals with her sixth goal of the season midway through the third period.

"Obviously our offense was creating a lot of good scoring opportunities and we capitalized on a number of them," said Ryhorchuk, whose team outshot Hamline 39-14 on Sunday and 86-30 in the series. "It was good to see Emily get those three goals, but those goals were a direct result of the work of her linemates (Missy Westergren / Lonsdale, Minn., and Mussehl)."

But then, with Nitara Frost (North Mankato, Minn.) in goal, the Cardinals didn't need any of Kearns' goals — Gibbons' first-period tally was more than enough. Frost stopped all 14 shots she faced en route to her third straight shutout.

"Nitara played very well again — she's been up to the challenge every time we've started her," praised Ryhorchuk of his junior goalie, who improved to 16-0-0 in her career at SMU. "Everyone should be happy about the weekend, I thought the whole team played very well. But come Monday, we need to put these games behind us and focus on Stevens Point.

"We can't be satisfied, there's still a lot of work we need to do."