Box Score Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — It didn't take long for Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor to notch his first collegiate coaching win.

And it didn't take the Cardinals long to notch win No. 1 on the season, as SMU scored four unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 victory over UW-Eau Claire at the SMU Ice Arena Saturday evening.

"It's nice to get that first win out of the way," said Mannor, referring to both his first coaching win and his team's first win of the season. "You always want to get your season off on the right foot, and I think we did that tonight.

"We started a bit slow — we weren't aggressive at all. We played very tentative early," said Mannor, whose team managed just three first-period shots, but went into the locker room after one period tied 0-0. "We made some adjustments between the first and second periods, and the team really responded."

Officially, Mannor's first coaching win and the Cardinals first win of the season took two hours, but in reality, both wins were secured in a span of 29 seconds.

Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) and Madeline Loftus (Parsippany, N.J.) scored 29 seconds apart late in the second period, as SMU turned a 1-1 nailbiter into a commanding 3-1 SMU advantage heading into the final 20 minutes of play

"We played extremely well in the second period, and those two quick goals really took a lot of wind out of (Eau Claire's) sails," said Mannor. "I thought we controlled the play for the majority of the period."

The Blugolds tried to cut into the lead in the third period — outshooting SMU 20-3 — but it was the Cardinals who made the most of their three offensive opportunities, getting goals from Jenna Roland (Boyne City, Mich.) and Dayna Pilsner (Madison, Wis.) to ice the win.

"We've been talking a lot in practice about how important every offensive opportunity is," said Mannor. "(Eau Claire) outshot us more than 2-to-1 (35-15), but we were able to capitalize on the chances we did get, and they weren't."

It didn't hurt that the Cardinals had all-conference goalie Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) between the pipes. Jung stopped 34 of the Blugolds' 35 shots — including all 20 in the third period — in helping the Cardinals preserve the win.

"I'm very happy," Mannor said. "We've still got a lot of work to do, but it's nice to get that first win."