SUPERIOR, Wis. — Two has not been a very lucky number for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team.

For the third game in a row, the Cardinals' offense produced two goals.

And for the third game in a row, the Cardinals were left without a victory.

SMU saw its season-opening winless streak climb to three straight, as UW-Superior scored a pair of third-period goals, breaking a 2-2 deadlock en route to a 4-2 win over the Cardinals.

"I thought we played very well tonight — we just came out on the short end of the stick," said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose team's run of twos started with a season-opening 2-2 tie vs. UW-River Falls, then continued with a 5-2 loss to UW-Eau Claire 5-2 on Tuesday. "Give UW-Superior credit, they are a very good team — maybe one of the most skilled teams we'll face all year.

"But we hung right with them for two periods. We just made a few mistakes (in the third period) and it cost us. You can't make those type of mistakes against a team like (UW-Superior) — they'll make you pay every time."

After falling behind 1-0 four minutes into the opening period, the Cardinals rattled off back-to-back powerplay goals by Laura Mueller (St. Paul, Minn.) and Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) to take a 2-1 advantage. The Yellowjackets, however, got the equalizer with 37 seconds remaining in the period, as the two teams headed into the locker room tied at 2-2.

After a scoreless second period, UW-Superior went to work, taking the lead on a goal by Brianne Mosher seven minutes into the third period, then Erin Kegley iced the Yellowjackets' fifth straight win with her seventh goal of the season with four seconds remaining in regulation.

"I certainly can't fault the effort," said Mannor, whose team gets another shot at the unbeaten Yellowjackets (5-0-0 overall) on Saturday. "If we play like that again tomorrow, it should be another great game."