ST. PAUL, Minn. — The offensive dominance continued for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team.
Less than 24 hours after pelting the Hamline goal with 31 shots, while scoring six times in a convincing 6-2 victory, the Cardinals were back at it Saturday afternoon, throwing a season-high 45 shots on the Piper goal.
Unlike Friday, however, the goals were fewer — and much harder to come by — as Hamline goalie Amanda Plumm did a near-perfect impression of a brick wall in helping the Pipers to a 2-2 tie vs. the Cardinals at Drake Arena.
“I was very pleased with the way we played, we just couldn't put the puck in the net,” said SMU coach
Terry Mannor, whose team's six-goal effort on Friday was the highest single-game offensive effort since Feb. 25, 2004, when the Cardinals blanked Hamline 8-0. “We had 10 to 12 golden scoring opportunities, where the rebound would just be lying there, and, instead of getting control of the puck and controlling it, we'd put it right back (into Plumm).
“We've got to work a little more on hurry-patience — be patient, but get it done in a hurry.”
Jamie Henneman (Countryside, Ill.) got the Cardinals on the board at 13:41 of the first period, and
Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) made it 2-0 with a shorthanded tally at 14:38 of the second.
The two-goal lead lasted all of 11 seconds, however, as Haley Johnson beat SMU goalie
Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) to make it a 2-1 game heading into the final 20 minutes.
“We lost our focus after we scored that second goal,” said Mannor. “Everyone was happy and celebrating, and in that 10-second span (Hamline) gained all that momentum away.”
The Pipers would then net the equalizer eight minutes into the final frame on a goal by Ali Miller, and, despite outshooting Hamline 14-6 in the third period — and 3-2 in the five-minute overtime — SMU could not break the deadlock.
“This was a good weekend for us,” said Mannor. “Hopefully we can just keep things rolling now.”
The Cardinals, who move to 1-0-1 in the MIAC and 2-3-1 overall, are now off for the Thanksgiving holiday, returning to the ice Dec. 4-5, when they play host to Concordia in a pair of conference games at the SMU Ice Arena.
