WINONA, Minn. — Saturday afternoon,
Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) was a one-person wrecking crew for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, scoring five goals in leading the Cardinals to a 6-0 nonconference victory over Marian at the SMU Ice Arena.
In Sunday's rematch, the Sabres shut down the high-scoring sophomore forward, but that was just fine with Olson — she had her time in the spotlight.
It was time to share the wealth.
And share it the Cardinals did.
SMU got scoring from three different players, as the Cardinals completed the nonconference sweep with a 3-2 victory Sunday at the SMU Ice Arena.
“We just weren't able to finish today the way we did (Saturday),” said SMU coach
Terry Mannor, whose team outshot the Sabres 47-13, but had just the three goals to show for their efforts. “We dominated play from start to finish, we just couldn't seem to put the puck in the net.”
Dy-anna Stewart (Eden Prairie, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board less than two minutes into the opening period, as her slap shot from the blue line caromed off a Sabre defender and past goalie Melissa Calder.
Marian would pull even less than four minutes later on a goal by Rachel Mullendore, as the two teams headed to the locker room after the opening 20 minutes tied 1-1.
The Cardinals got back-to-back goals by
Madison Sienko (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and
Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) two minutes apart early in the second period to grab a two-goal advantage, but the Sabres again made things interesting, as Amy Knuston scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season at 12:54 to pull Marian to within one, 3-2, heading into the final 20 minutes.
SMU continued its offensive dominance, outshooting Marian 13-3 in the third, but it was the one Sabre shot that goalie
Erin Johnson-Buscemi (Medina, Minn.) didn't stop that actually preserved the Cardinal victory.
With just over a minute remaining in regulation, Marian's Mullendore snuck behind the Cardinal defenders, and broke in alone on Johnson-Buscemi, only to have her shot clang off the left post.
“We dominated the game, but sometimes you need to have a little luck, too,” said Mannor, whose team has now won four straight and is 7-1-1 in their last nine. “We had a mental breakdown that almost cost us. Fortunately it didn't.”
The Cardinals, who improve to 7-4-1 overall, are back in action on Saturday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 4 p.m. nonconference showdown against Gustavus.
