Box Score

	vs.
0		7

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WINONA, Minn. — Heading into Friday's season-opening exhibition game against Lindenwood, Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor was sure he knew one thing about the visiting Lions —
that he didn't know anything about them.

He does now.

And, more importantly, he knows a little bit about his own team  as well.

Lindenwood pelted the SMU net with 17 first-period shots, then erupted for three goals in each of the last two periods en route to a 7-0 victory over the Cardinals at the SMU Ice Arena.

"Coming into (Friday's game) I didn't have a clue what to expect from (Lindenwood) — I didn't iknow anything about them except that they were a club team that had already played (and won) its first six games," said Mannor of the Lions, a club team out of St. Charles, Mo. "Now I know one thing for sure — they're good."

Really good.

The Lions, who entered the game having scored 51 goals in their first six games, while allowing just three, didn't miss a beat against the Cardinals, as their high-octane offense was clicking on all cylinders, while their defense was as stingy has ever.

Lindenwood's Gillian Couture netted the only goal of the first period, tallying the first of the Lions' three powerplay goals with 10 seconds remaining, as her shot eluded SMU goalie Brittany Lemke (St. Charles, Ill.).

After managing just one goal on their first 17 shots, the Lions turned up the heat a bit in the second and third periods, netting three goals on eight shots in the second and three more on 10 shots in the third.

"You have to give (Lindenwood) a lot of credit they are a very good team — probably one of the best teams we'll face all season," said Mannor, whose team will host the Lions in the second game of their two-game exhibition series on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. "We came into this game expecting us to make a lot of first-game errors, and we did. But I thought as the game went on, we started picking things up a bit.

"We've got a lot of new faces, and it's going to take some time for everyone to mesh together," continued Mannor, who had 10 players mak\ing their first collegiate appearances — including Lemke in goal. "The biggest positive to me was the fact that everyone stayed positive on the bench the entire game, no one got down at all — and that was great to see."