WINONA, Minn. — Through the first two periods Friday evening, Saint Mary's University goalie
Kaye Collier (Hibbing, Minn.) did her best imitation of a brick wall, as the Cardinal freshman stopped 35 of Gustavus' first 36 shots.
In the first three minutes of the third period, however, the Gusties found a crack, beating Collier twice to give GAC what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 advantage with 17 minutes remaining.
SMU, however, proved that things aren't always as they appear, as the Cardinals got back-to-back goals from
Stevie Fiek (Rochester, Minn.) — the second with 1:49 remaining — to cut the Gustie lead to 3-2.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, that's where their comeback ended, as Gustavus held off SMU's late charge for the 3-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Ice Arena.
“I'd sure like to do those first two periods over,” joked SMU coach
Terry Mannor. “If we play the way we did in the third period in the first two periods, it's a totally different game.
“I don't know what it is, we just can't get this team to play a complete 60 minutes.”
Collier stole the show in the first two periods, kicking out 15 of 16 GAC shots in the opening period — allowing just a Melissa Mackley goal at 5:56 — while stopped all 20 Gustie shots in the second period.
Lindsey Hjelm and Mollie Carroll gave Gustavus a little breathing room with their goals less than two minutes apart in the opening three minutes of the third period, but SMU wasn't about to throw in the towel.
Fiek, the team's assist leader, and
Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.), the team's goal-scoring leader, switched roles in the third period, as Fiek scored both Cardinal goals off assists from Olson, to get SMU to within one, 3-2 — but it wasn't enough as the Gusties snapped SMU's three-game winning streak.
“I don't know what it was in the first two periods, but we just weren't aggressive, we played way too passive in the defensive zone — and against a team like (Gustavus) you have to be aggressive,” said Mannor, whose team gets another shot at the Gusties on Saturday, when they travel to St. Peter, Minn., for a 2 p.m. conference contest. “Hopefully we'll learn from tonight's game that, yes, Gustavus is good, but when we play the way we are capable, we are just as good.”
