Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team entered Tuesday's nonconference game against UW-River Falls fresh off a two-game sweep of Bethel in which the Cardinals outscored the Royals 19-3.

UW-River Falls, on the other hand, had not played since Dec. 29, and were in the midst of a five-game winless streak (0-5-2).

Chalk up another win for the Cardinals, right?

Not quite.

Falcons goalie Marlene Yeager stopped 33 of the 34 shots she faced as UW-River Falls scored once in the first period and twice in the second en route to a 3-1 victory over SMU at the SMU Ice Arena.

Mandy Stokes got the Falcons (5-5-3) on the board late in the first period, beating SMU goalie Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.) with just 24 seconds remaining in the opening period.

The Falcons added a pair of goals six minutes apart in the second period, and Yeager made them stand up as the freshman was perfect through two periods, stopping all 21 SMU shots. Mo Hayes (Cottage Grove, Minn.) finally got the Cardinals on the board with an unasisted goal midway through the third period but it was too little, too late as SMU lost for the third time in its last five games.