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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor has watched his Cardinals collect some big wins during his tenure behind the bench.

And Saturday's 2-1 overtime win over league-leading St. Thomas ranks right up there with the biggest of the big.

“That was a huge win for us,” said Mannor after watching Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) score the game-winner in overtime. “With the logjam that's beginning to form from first through seventh place (in the conference), for us to get two points off the top team in the conference is great.”

Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board in the first period, as the Cardinal junior scored for the fourth time in SMU's last five games.

SMU maintained that 1-0 advantage until the third, when the Tommies' Mary Grace Flesher knotted things up with her second goal of the season — setting up Stenseth's overtime heroics.

“We scored both of our goals on the power play — against the No. 1 team in the nation when it comes to killing penalties — which is certainly a big boost to our confidence,” said Mannor. “The only frustrating part of the weekend is that we didn't play like this Friday (when St. Thomas beat the Cardinals 4-1).

“If we play like we did today last night, we could be talking about a sweep,” Mannor added. “But I'm certainly not complaining — at this stage in the season, I'll take the two points.”

The Cardinals (5-2-3 MIAC, 8-6-3 overall) are back in action on Friday, when they host Augsburg in the first game of their two-game series at the SMU Ice Arena.