Box Score Game Summary vs. Hamline / GameDay Online

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor wasn't about to give his Cardinals an “A” for their effort Friday evening in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference against Hamline.

But he certainly wans't going to complain about the end result, either.

The Cardinals scored the game's first three goals and never looked back in posting their first conference win of the season, a 5-3 victory at Drake Arena.

“It wasn't our best performance, but we did what we had to do to get the job done,” said Mannor, whose team improved to 1-4-0 in the MIAC and 2-6-0 overall with the win — their first since a 5-4 overtime win over UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 7. “I thought we played very well early on, but then we let up a bit and gave (Hamline) every opportunity to get back in the game.

“It wasn't a complete 60 (minutes), but it was a win — and we needed it.”

Ingrid Klockars (Wheaton, Ill.) and Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.) scored a minute apart late in the first period to give SMU a 2-0 advantage, and Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) pushed the Cardinals' advantage to 3-0 with her first collegiate goal 1:38 into the second period.

Hamline got on the board at 13:00 of the second on a goal by Alli Miller, but SMU's Francie Steger (Chicago, Ill.) answered 40 seconds later. Rachel Deick made it a two-goal game with her third goal of the season before the second period ended, and the Pipers' Erin Kastner scored two minutes into the third period to pull Hamline to within one, 4-3.

Olson gave SMU some breathing room six minutes later, as the Cardinal freshman netted her second of the game, and SMU goalie Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) made it stand up, stopping 11 third-period shots to ice the win.

“We needed to get a win,” said Mannor, whose team returns home for Saturday's 4 p.m. rematch with the Pipers at the SMU Ice Arena. “I know this team can still play better, but when you are struggling to score goals — and to win games — this was exactly what we needed.”