ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Friday night, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team was good — holding St. Catherine to one first-period shots en route to a 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

And on Saturday, the Cardinals put together a picture-perfect encore performance.

The Cardinals recorded their second-straight, three-goal effort, while holding St. Catherine to a single, second-period tally, as SMU completed its sweep with a 3-1 victory.

"We did what we had to do — and that was beat (St. Catherine) for a second straight night," said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose team has now won two straight for the second time this season and has now won four of its last five games. "After (Friday's win), I was a little worried about a letdown, but we came out and dominated the first period.

"We had that letdown in the second period, but then picked it up again in the third period and got the win."

For the second night in a row, the Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first period, as Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) and Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) found the back of the net for SMU.

Unlike Friday, however, the Wildcats managed seven first-period shots, but Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) was up to the task, as Gage — who stopped 12 shots in posting her first shutout of the season, and fifth of her career, Friday — kicked out all seven to push her shutout streak vs. St. Catherine to four straight periods.

The Wildcats finally solved Gage in the second period, but SMU regained its two-goal advantage with a third-period tally by Nicole Reynard (Hortonville, Wis.) — her first collegiate goal — sealed the for SMU.

"I thought we played very well (on Friday), and I was pleased with the way we played again (Saturday),' said Mannor. "We did a nice job of moving the puck all weekend — we created good scoring opportunities, and capitalized on enough of them to get us two wins.

"I still think we can play better, but the bottom line is, we got two wins on the weekend."