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WINONA, Minn. — Terry Mannor isn't superstitious, and he swears he doesn't have triskaidekaphobia.

But after the Friday the 13th he just went through, he may want to reconsider.

Mannor's day started out with the tragic news that one of his former players, Madeline Loftus was killed along with 49 other people when the plane she was in crashed in Western New York, near Buffalo.

And it ended with a sub-par performance in a 4-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to Augsburg at the SMU Ice Arena.

“It wasn't exactly a very enjoyable day,” said Mannor, who coached Loftus during her senior season at Saint Mary's, which also happened to be his first as the Cardinals' head coach. “Maddy was the first senior to graduate from my program. She will always hold a special place in my heart.

“Everyone who knew her will remember someone full of life and compassion. She was loved by everyone, and will be greatly missed.”

Mannor admitted that Loftus' death left the Cardinals with heavy hearts as they took the ice for Friday's conference matchup with the Auggies.

And, unfortunately, it showed.

“We did not come out and play very well in the first period, and we just never could seem to get anything going after that,” said Mannor, whose team stayed even with the Auggies through the opening 20 minutes, but a three-goal Augsburg second period proved to be the Cardinals' undoing. “It was such a tough, emotionally draining day — it definitely had an affect on our performance.”

The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie after the first period, but the Auggies made the most of their 11 second-period shots, scoring three times on SMU goalie Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) to take a commanding 4-1 advantage into the game's final 20 minutes. SMU pelted the Auggies' net with 17 third-period shots, but Augsburg goalie Ton Menth was up to the task, stopping 16 of the 17 shots to preserve the win.

The loss dropped the Cardinals to 5-9-1 in the MIAC and left them at least tied with Saint Benedict and one point behind St. Olaf in the race for the fifth and final MIAC playoff berth. Saint Benedict played host to Hamline later Friday evening, while St. Olaf was at St. Thomas.

“It's a tough loss to take, we certainly had our share of chances, we just couldn't put the puck in the net,” said Mannor, whose team outshot Augsburg 43-26, but only had a first-period goal by Jamie Henneman (Countryside, Ill.) and a third-period tally by Katie Cachey (Orland Park, Ill.) to show for their efforts. “We're not out of (the playoff race), but we certainly put our backs to the wall. We can't afford any more letdowns, that's for sure.”