ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team has been putting in a little extra work of late. And finally — finally — that extra time on the ice paid off.

The Cardinals found themselves playing an overtime period for the fourth straight game Saturday afternoon — and for the first time in those four games, SMU came away with a win for their efforts.

Jenn Shire (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) netted the game-winner 1:32 into the five-minute extra session, as the Cardinals picked up their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season, beating St. Benedict 3-2.

"Overtimes — I'm already sick of them," said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose club had gone 0-1-2 in its last three games — including a 1-1 tie vs. the Blazers on Friday night. "It's been a frustrating couple of weeks, because we have played well enough to come out on top, but the ladies haven't been rewarded for their efforts.

"It's tough to go into overtime in four straight games — mentally and physically," continued Mannor. "I'm just happy we were able to the win this time around."

They got the win — but it wasn't easy.

Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) — who scored the lone goal for SMU in Friday's 1-1 tie — got the Cardinals on the board late in the first period, but CSB responded with back-to-back goals from Patty King and Jackie Hoeft three minutes apart early in the second period to take a 2-1 lead.

Laura Langen (New Lisbon, Wis.) got the Cardinals even with her third of the season at the 8:08 mark of the second period, then, after a scoreless third period in which the Cardinals were outshot 8-3, Langen set up Shire for the game-winner.

"I guess it's pretty safe to say that these two teams are pretty even," said Mannor of the Cardinals and Blazers. "I think both teams played a little tired today, but overall, I was very pleased with our performance.

"It's going to be a tough road — the conference is going to be so evenly matched that every weekend is going to be a battle, just like this one was," Mannor added. "Hopefully we can come back from the (Christmas) break and keep playing good, solid hockey."