EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — In their season-opener against UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 5, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team could do no wrong in giving head coach Terry Mannor one of his most memorable coaching moments — his first collegiate win.

Saturday evening, when the two teams squared off again, the Cardinals could do nothing right — and the final outcome wasn't quite as memorable for Mannor & Co.

UW-Eau Claire peppered 52 shots on SMU goalie Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.), scoring once in both the first and second periods, then put the game away with a two-goal third period, as the Blugolds handed the Cardinals their second straight loss, 4-2.

"This was by far our worst performance of the season," said Mannor, whose team managed just 15 shots on goal — getting goals from Madeline Loftus (Parsippany, N.J.) in the first period and Natalie Hoadley (Oconomowoc, Wis.) in the third. "Every now and then you get a game where nothing you do works, where it seems like no matter what you did, it's not the right thing. And tonight was one of those nights for us.

"We just couldn't do anything right."

The Cardinals got off on the right foot, as Loftus put the Cardinals on the board 30 seconds into the opening period, taking a feed from Amy Madden (East Grand Rapids, Mich.) and beating UWEC goalie Heather Prochaska.

The Blugolds knotted things up midway through the first period, then took the lead for good on the first of two goals by Martina Korinek midway through the second period. Korinek made it 3-1 38 seconds into the third period and Tara Hayner made it 4-1 before Hoadley netted SMU's second goal with 3:48 remaining in regulation.

"We let this game get away from us," said Mannor, whose team had dropped a 5-2 decision to UW-River Falls on Friday and is now 2-7-2 overall. "We played so well against them the first time we met, and then tonight we just couldn't get anything going.

"This is one of those games you just want to forget — which is exactly what we are going to do."