MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Remember that three-game losing streak?

Neither does Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor.

A win and a tie will do that to a coach.

SMU headed into this weekend's MIAC-opening two-game series vs. Augsburg on the heels of a three-game losing streak and a season-opening four-game winless streak.

They exited with a much more satisfying streak — a two-game unbeaten streak.

Fresh off a convincing 3-1 win over the Auggies in Friday's series opener at the SMU Ice Arena, the Cardinals struggled to match that same intensity, but still managed to come away with a 3-3 tie — and three key conference points.

"It was our best effort, that's for sure — and it was nothing like the way we played (Friday night)," said Mannor, whose team moved to 1-0-1 in the MIAC and 1-3-2 overall. "I thought we played extremely well from start to finish (in Friday's 3-1 win), but this time around, we just went through the motions for the first 35 minutes of the game.

"Once we decided to play the way we are capable of playing, we dominated the play — it just took us two periods to get going."

The Cardinals sandwiched a pair of goals by Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) around a goal by the Auggies' Tiffany Magnuson, as SMU took a 2-1 advantage into the locker room after one period. Augsburg then erupted for two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period to take a 3-2 lead, before Angie Kryzer (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) pulled SMU even with her first collegiate goal.

"I'm a little disappointed, because I felt we were the better team, and I think we proved that with our performance on Friday," said Mannor. "But when you don't go out and play at your highest level for 60 minutes, you give your opponent the opportunity to hang around — and that's what happened to us.

"We went through the motions for two periods, and (Augsburg) took advantage."