BLAINE, Minn. — Friday night, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team managed just one goal against Bethel, coming out on the short end of a 2-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision at the SMU Ice Arena.
Saturday, the Cardinals' offense came out of its January hibernation — at least a little bit — as SMU tripled its Friday output, scoring once in the second and twice in the third in handing the Royals a 3-1 conference setback at the Schwan's Super Rink.
“We played very well,” said SMU junior
Katie Cachey (Orland Park, Ill.), who scored the empty net goal that gave the Cardinals their two-goal cushion with 23 seconds remaining in regulation. “This was probably the closest we have come to playing a complete, 60-minute game.
“We came out a lot stronger today than we did last night,” Cachey added. “It was good to bounce back with a win.”
Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) got the Cardinals on the board late in the second period — really late — tallying her second of the season with five seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.), who assisted on Stenseth's second-period tally, netted her fourth of the season midway through the third period to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage, but the Royals would not go away, getting a power play goal from Allison Papko at 16:36 to cut the gap to one, 2-1.
Cachey, who assisted on both of the Cardinals' first two goals, would give SMU and coach
Terry Mannor some breathing room with her empty net tally at 19:37.
Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.), who had her bid for her fourth shutout of the season foiled with Papko's late goal, finished with 36 saves for the Cardinals, while Bethel goalie Nicole Jones stopped 27 of the 29 SMU shots she faced.
The Cardinals, who improve to 5-2-1 in the MIAC and 8-6-1 overall, are back in action Friday, hitting the road to take on St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. conference contest.
