Game Summary

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Now that's more like it.

After three straight losses, including a disappointing 2-1 setback in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener Friday, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team finally put it all together — for an entire game.

SMU, still smarting from their first-ever loss to St. Catherine the night before, took out its frustrations on the Wildcats in Saturday's rematch, riding a two-goal first period to a 3-1 conference win.

"We played much better today," understated SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk, whose team moved to 1-1-0 in the MIAC and 3-3-0 overall. "We took what we did in the third period Friday (when the Cardinals outshot the Wildcats 14-5 and scored their only goal), and carried it over and did it for three periods (Saturday).

"It wasn't anything flashing — we just played solid all the way around."

Aja Walters (Fairmont, Minn.) got the Cardinals' offense going, as she netted her second goal of the season five minutes into the opening period. Emily Babcock (St. Paul, Minn.) made it 2-0 before the first period ended, and Jenny Hocum's (Rochester, Minn.) first goal of the season midway through the third period gave SMU a commanding 3-0 cushion.

The Wildcats foiled the shutout bid by SMU's Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) scoring with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

"Amanda played very well — she made the saves she had to make and kept us in the game," said Ryhorchuk of his sophomore goalie, who finished with 35 saves. "This was a good, team win. We have said all along that we don't need one person to carry the load — we just need a lot of people doing their jobs. That's the biggest difference between Friday's game and today's — everyone did their part, and because of that, we were able to come away with the win."