Box Score Game Summary vs. Concordia /
GameDay Online
MOORHEAD Minn. — The start was impressive.
It was the finish that doomed the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team.
The Cardinals scored twice in the game's opening 10 minutes to take a 2-0 lead over Concordia Friday evening, only to have the Cobbers score five unanswered goals — including three in the final 10 minutes of the first period — en route to a 5-2 victory over SMU at the Moorhead Sports Center.
“We came out flying,” said SMU coach
Terry Mannor. “But once we got out to that two-goal lead, we seemed to let up, and (Concordia) came storming back.
“Once (Concordia) scored their third goal, everyone started to feel sorry for themselves and things just went from bad to worse,” Mannor added. “After a very poor second period, I thought we worked hard in the third, but we didn't work together — everyone was trying to do everything themselves and we weren't working as a team.
“It just wasn't one of our better nights.”
The night certainly got off on a high note, as
Sheree Haslemore (Gore, New Zealand and
Alex Braun (Darwin, Minn.) each found the back of the net before the game was even 10 minutes old.
From there, however, things went down hill fast.
Becce Kent pulled Concordia within one, 2-1, with her first of the season at 14:04, and in a four-minute span, Kayla Hendrickson and Kayla Thorson would beat SMU goalie
Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) to give the Cobbers a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Concordia would add single goals in both the second and third periods, while holding SMU to just 15 shots on goal in the two periods combined, in handing the Cardinals their third conference loss in as many games.
“It's tough to start the conference season 0-3, but there's a lot of hockey still to be played,” said Mannor, whose team squares off against the Cobbers against Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest. “We just need to realize that, if we are going to be successful, everyone has to give 100 percent — and everyone has to work together.
“A bunch of individuals aren't going to do it, we have to do it as a team.”
