Box Score Game Summary vs. Bethel / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — After banging their head against a brick wall all night Friday, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team finally found a crack Saturday.

And before long, the Cardinals' sharpshooters had turned the wall to rubble — and with it the Royals — as SMU used a three-goal second period to beat Bethel 4-0 at the SMU Ice Arena.

“If you would have told me before the game that we would score three goals on (Bethel goalie Beth Spurrier), I probably wouldn't have laughed at you,” said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose team managed just one goal on 24 shots in losing to Spurrier — a three-time All-MIAC first-team selection — and the Royals 2-1 Friday evening. “She is by far the best goalie in the conference and we knew that if we were going to be successful, we had to continue to put (offensive) pressure on (Spurrier) every chance we got.”

Which is exactly what the Cardinals did.

After a scoreless first period, in which SMU held a 12-9 advantage in shots on goal, the Cardinals got to work, scoring three times on 10 shots in the second stanza. Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) started — and finished — the Cardinals' three-goal onslaught, netting her third goal of the season at 9:42, then, following a Sheree Haslemore (Gore, New Zealand) goal at 13:07, added her second of the game at 16:22.

Ashley Mileykovsky (Northbrook, Ill.) roundd out the scoring with an empty net goal at 14:44 of the third period.

SMU goalie Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) did her own impersonation of Spurrier, as the Cardinal freshman recorded her first collegiate shutout, stopping all 26 shots she faced.

“It was a great team effort,” said Mannor, whose team is back in action Friday, traveling to St. Thomas for the first of two games against the Tommies. “We played very well in all facets of the game, and got great goaltending from Madeline.

“Hopefully this game was another positive step in our process of learning what it takes to win.”