Game Summary

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team dropped a 1-0 decision to Gustavus on Jan. 11, the Cardinals knew that they could not afford any more losses if they hoped to be one of the five teams invited to take part in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's post-season tournament.

Five games later, and the Cardinals are very much in the playoff picture — thanks to a 4-0-1 run that included an impressive 3-1 victory over St. Benedict on Saturday.

"We played well," said Ryhorchuk of Saturday's performance, which included three second-period goals and a 29-save performance from goalie Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.) "We started out a bit slow, but we really picked it up in the second period."

That's an understatement.

After managing just five shots on goal through a scoreless opening period, the Cardinals pelted the St. Ben's net with 20 second-period shots, connecting on three — the first by Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.), the second by Tennie McCabe (Rochester, Minn.) eight minutes later, and the third by Christy Hicks (Bloomington, Minn.) with less than three minutes remaining in the period.

"It was good to see us continue to spread the scoring out," said Ryhorchuk. "Everyone on this teams knows how important every game is from here on out. We've got to stay focused and keep playing at our best.

"If we can do that, we'll make it (back to the conference tournament)."