Cardinals give Mannor 2-for-1 discount

Donny Nadeau, SMU Sports Information Office

Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — When your a first-year head coach, there are always a lot of firsts that come your way.

Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor has certainly had his share of firsts: First win (5-1 vs. UW-Eau Claire); first loss (3-1 vs. UW-Superior); first road win (3-2 at St. Benedict).

Yet, 16 games into the season, there were still two firsts yet to be accomplished.

Until Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals gave their first-year head coach a 2-for-1 discount on firsts, as Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) netted the game-winning goal two minutes into overtime, leading SMU to a 2-1 win over Concordia — and, in the process, handing Mannor those elusive two firsts.

First two-game winning streak, and first series sweep.

"This was an excellent weekend for us," said Mannor, whose Cardinals had not won two straight since beating Concordia (3-1) and Augsburg (3-1) late last season — and had not swept a season series since beating Hamline 4-0, 2-0 last Jan. 14 and 15. "I didn't think we played quite as well as we did Friday night (in a 2-0 win that included goals from Amy Madden (East Grand Forks, Minn.) and Laura Mueller (St. Paul, Minn.), and a 30-save effort from goalie Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)). We came out a little flat in the first period, really dominated the second, and then seemed to lose our legs a bit in the third."

After a scoreless first period, the Cardinals got the only goal of the second period, as Jenna Roland (Boyne City, Mich.) netted her third of the season at the 7:48 mark. The Cobbers would get the equalizer midway through the third period, as Hannah Impola beat Jung on the powerplay.

Once in overtime, it was Mondo to the rescue, as the SMU junior rifled a shot past Cobber goalie Jenna Johnson to give SMU its second OT win in five tries this season.

"I'm very happy with the way this team played this weekend," said Mannor. "Everyone worked hard and battled from start to finish, and that was good to see."

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