NORTHFIELD, Minn. — One was fun.

Twice was nice.

But the third time was anything but a charm for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team.

St. Olaf — two-time losers to the Cardinals in the teams' regular-season meetings this season — erupted for three goals in the second period in handing SMU a 4-2 setback Tuesday evening in the opening round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs.

"It's tough to have the season come to an end like that, but this team certainly has nothing to hang their heads about," said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose team closed out its season with an 11-12-3 overall record — marking the eighth straight season in which SMU has posted at least 11 wins. "(St. Olaf) played a solid game — especially in the second period. They got a couple of power plays, which seemed to take us out of our rhythm a bit and we just never got it back.

"We had our share of chances, we just weren't able to get the break we needed."

In the Cardinals'' two wins over the Oles during the regular season, SMU scored five of its seven goals in the second period in cruising to 3-1 and 4-3 victories.

Tuesday's showdown, however, turned out to be complete role-reversal for the two teams, as the Cardinals jumped out to the 1-0 first-period lead on a goal by Jill Rhody (St. Paul, Minn.), only to have the Oles respond with goals by Lindsay Weier, Katie Bennett and Lindsey Boeser — Bennett and Boeser connecting 24 second apart in the period's final two minutes —  to take a 3-0 lead into the game's final 20 minutes.

The Cardinals made things interesting with a minute remaining in regulation, as Rachel Harrison(Madison, Wis.) scored her sixth goal of the season with 1:03 remaining in regulation to pull the Cardinals' within a goal, 3-2.

That one-goal lead, however, lasted less than 20 seconds as Susannah Brokl scored on the empty net to ice the win.

"This team really came together this season," said Mannor, whose team ended its season with eight wins in its last 11 games (8-2-1) in earning their sixth straight MIAC playoff berth. "It was a learning experience for all of us, and more than anything, this team learned how to play as a team and I am very proud of them.

"There's no question this was a successful season — a very successful season."