Box Score

	vs.
2		0

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WINONA, Minn. — Goals have been few and far between for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team this season — and Friday night was no exception.

The Cardinals entered their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Hamline averaging less than two goals a game, and had scored two or fewer goals in their last three and in eight of their 11 games this season.

But when you have Brittany Lemke (St. Charles, Ill.) between the pipes, one or two goals is all you need.

It was Friday night.

Lemke kicked out all 26 shots she face in earning her second collegiate shutout, and helping the Cardinals to a streak-snapping 2-0 conference win at the SMU Ice Arena.

"That was a big, big win," said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose Cardinals snapped two-game losing and three-game winless streaks with the win — their second straight victory by shutout, having beaten Concordia 3-0 to snap their season-high five-game losing streak on Dec. 8. "We played very well, and had we gotten a break or two (in the second period), we could have easily been up 5-0 going into the third period."

With Lemke doing her part in goal for the Cardinals, Amy Zimniewicz (River Falls, Wis.) did her part at the other end, scoring both of SMU's goals — the first on the Cardinals' second shot of the game four minutes into the opening period and the second on SMU's last shot of the game, an empty net goal with 11 seconds remaining.

Clinging to that one-goal advantage heading into the third period — despite pelting Hamline goalie Crystal Testolin with 13 shots in the second period alone — the Cardinals made things tough on themselves in the third period, getting called for four penalties, including two back-to-back that gave the Pipers more than a minute of a 5-on-3 advantage.

SMU weathered that storm, and when Zimniewicz poked a puck past the Hamline defenders, raced untouched into the Piper end and deposited the puck into the empty net, their latest losing streak was history — and Mannor is hoping the next streak his team is involved in, is a winning streak.

"We did the little things tonight — we blocked a lot of shots, and played well at  both ends of the ice," said Mannor, whose Cardinals (3-4-0 MIAC, 3-8-1 overall) will square off against the Pipers again on Saturday, this time on Hamline's home ice in St. Paul, Minn. "I think we gained a little momentum with this win — hopefully we can keep it going."