Box Score Game Summary / GameDay Preview

FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor was hoping his Cardinals would be able to get off to a running start Friday evening in their season-opener against Marian.

The Cardinals, however, had other ideas, turning that running start into a flat-out sprint, as SMU raced to a 5-0 nonconference win over the Sabres.

“We played well,” understated Mannor, whose team is right back in action on Saturday, traveling to De Pere, Wis., for a 5 p.m. nonconference contest against St. Nobert – which kicked off its inaugural season with a 2-0 win over Bethel Friday evening. “We did a lot of good things tonight, but, obviously, we still have some things to clean up a bit.

“It was good to see some of younger players step up to the challenge – it was a good start.”

Good start, more like a great start, as SMU scored once in the first period and twice in both the second and third.

Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board late in the first period, as the Cardinals freshman netted her first collegiate goal with less than six minutes remaining.

Alex Braun (Darwin, Minn.) – who assisted on Therrien's first-period tally – netted a goal of her own six minutes into the second stanza, and Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Island, Mich.) added the first of her two goals at 14:53 to give the Cardinals a 3-0 cushion heading into the game's final 20 minutes.

Coolsaet would net collegiate goal No. 2 5:14 into the third period, and Dana Kreuser (Maplewood, Minn.) made it 5-0 less than a minute later.

While SMU's offense was busy peppering the Marian net with 28 shots, Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) was unbeatable between the pipes for the Cardinals, stopping all seven Sabre shots in recording the shutout.