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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The first game of the season unfolded pretty much the way Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor expected — some good and some not-so-good.

And the end result pretty much said the same thing, as the Cardinals settled for a 2-2 nonconference tie against Lake Forest Friday evening.

“We started a little slow, but I kind of expected that, being that this was our first game of the season,” said Mannor. “We did some things well, and we did some things that weren't so good — it was pretty much what I expected from the first game.”

Lake Forest got on the board first, as Maive Connelly beat SMU goalie Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) at 7:16 of the opening period. SMU pulled even midway through the second period on a power-play goal by Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.).

Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Island, Mich.), who assisted on Stenseth's power-play tally, picked up her second assist of the game, setting up Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) — who netted her first collegiate goal with less than five minutes remaining in the second period to give the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage.

The lead, however, was short-lived, as Lake Forest's Laura Reckdenwald would net a short-handed tally before the period ended to knot things at 2-2.

Neither team would score in the game's final 20 minutes — or in the five-minute overtime — thanks in large part to the play of Gustafson, who stopped 10 third-period shots and added three more saves in overtime to help SMU preserve the season-opening tie.

The Cardinals and Foresters are back at it on Saturday, as the two teams square off for the second game of the two-game nonconference series at 2 p.m.