Box Score Game Summary vs. Augsburg / GameDay Online

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Heading into Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch with Augsburg, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team trailed fifth-place Saint Benedict and St. Olaf by one point in the chase for the fifth and final conference playoff berth.

When the horn finally sounded — following 60 minutes of regulation and a five-minute overtime — the Cardinals and Auggies had battled to a 2-2 tie.

It wasn't the win coach Terry Mannor was hoping for, but it was a point.

A very big point.

“It's a little disappointing,” Mannor said of the tie. “Especially because I felt like we control play for most of the game. But on the flip side, we did come away with a point, which means, if we take care of business next weekend, we should be in (the MIAC playoffs).

With Saturday's tie, SMU moved to 5-9-2 in the MIAC. Their 12 points leave them tied with St. Olaf for seventh place, one point behind St. Catherine and two back of fifth-place Saint Benedict. The Cardinals close out their season with back-to-back home games against Saint Benedict this weekend, while St. Catherine finishes with Concordia, while St. Catherine faces Augsburg.

“We really control our own destiny,” Mannor said of the Cardinals' playoff chances. “We can't really worry too much about what other teams have to do — we just have to go out and control what we can control, and that's how we play. If we play the way we are capable, and come away with two wins (vs. the Blazers), that's all we can ask for.”

The Auggies raced out to a 1-0 first-period lead on Tiffany Magnuson's sixth goal of the season, while SMU got the equalizer off the stick of Jamie Henneman (Countryside, Ill.) eight minutes into the second period. Augsburg regained the lead at 6:40 of the final period, but again SMU answered, as Alex Braun (Darwin, Minn.) scored an unassisted goal at 9:04 to round out the scoring.

Madeline Lenz (White Bear Lake, Minn.) recorded 27 saves for the Cardinals, while Augsburg's Toni Menth posted a 39-save effort.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Mannor said. “We had more than our fair share of chances — we've just got to find a way to do a better job of finishing. To have 41 shots and score just twice, it's tough to win that way.”