Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Ask any coach and they'll all say the same thing — to be successful, you have to be playing your best at the end of the season.

And the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team was. The Cardinals entered Tuesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff opener against Augsburg with a 6-1-1 mark in their last eight games — including shutouts in five of their six wins.

Unfortunately for SMU, Augsburg's season-ending best proved to be just a bit better.

The Auggies — unbeaten in their last eight (6-0-2) heading into Tuesday — got a breakaway goal from Stacy Anderson with less than five minutes remaining in regulation as Augsburg eliminated the Cardinals 2-1 at the SMU Ice Arena.

"It was a great game," said SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk, whose team closed out its season with a 15-9-2 overall record. "We told the ladies after the game to keep their heads up, they played very well — Augsburg got one break and it went in for them."

The Cardinals got on the board first, as Katie Berg (Apple Valley, Minn.) swatted in a loose puck in front at 14:28 of the opening period.

That, however, would be the last time SMU would beat Augsburg goalie Katie Fedoryk, who turned aside 27 shots.

"Their goalie played very well — she made some huge saves in the first period, or we could have easily been up two or three goals," said Ryhorchuk, whose team outshot Augsburg 13-10 in the opening period. "I thought that first period might have been one of the best we played all season. But in the second, we let down a bit and Augsburg picked up that momentum.

"Nikki (Jung) was as good for us in goal in the second period as (Fedoryk) was for them in the first."

Augsburg — which earned a tie and an overtime win against regular-season champion St. Thomas (the Tommies' first loss in 19 MIAC games) on the final weekend of the regular season — peppered Jung with 11 second-period shots, getting the equalizer on a goal by Britt Pennington midway through the second period.

The game remained scoreless — thanks in large part to the play of Fedoryk and Jung — well into the final period. In fact, overtime was on everyone's mind when Annie Annunziato laced a tape-to-tape pass to Anderson, who broke in alone on Jung, faked left, and slid the puck under the SMU goalies' outstretched glove.

"It's a tough way to lose," said Ryhorchuk. "Both teams came into the game playing at a very high level, and I think that continued tonight.

"We knew it was going to be a close game that went right down to the wire — unfortunately, it just didn't come out in our favor."