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WINONA, Minn. — For the second time in two games, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team found themselves trailing their opponent after the first 20 minutes of play.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals were not able to repeat Friday night's performance — a come-from-behind win — as they fell to Concordia (Wis.) 4-2 in a nonconference game Saturday afternoon at SMU Ice Arena.

“I definitely think we were overconfident heading into this game,” SMU coach Terry Mannor said. “And when (Concordia) scores 19 seconds into the game, it kind of hurts.”

Concordia got off to a quick start, as Erin Grant converted on assists from Samantha Meuwissen and Kelsey Kusch 19 seconds after the drop of the puck.

The Falcons continued their quick-strike scoring 2:14 into the second period, as Sara Cole scored an unassisted goal on the power play. Muriel McIntyre gave Concordia a 3-0 advantage, adding to the offense with an assist from Catie O'Connor.

Cecilia Hardacker (Bloomington, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board at the 14:23 mark of the second period off a Sheree Haslemore (Gore, New Zealand) assist. Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) closed the deficit to one goal, scoring her second goal of the season with 55 seconds remaining in the second to pull SMU within 3-2 lead with one period to go.

“For a while there, we tried to do too much as individuals,” Mannor said. “When we play as individuals, we're not going to win.

“I told them I don't want any heroes — I want players.”

For the third time in the game, the Falcons started the period off quickly, as Elizabeth Otto converted off a feed from Maxine Blohowiak 2:59 into the final frame to close out the scoring and give the Falcons the 4-2 victory.
Cardinal goaltender Megan Brantley (Goodyear, Ariz.) — making her first collegiate start — stopped 25 of 29 shots.

“I don't think we bounced back well at all,” Mannor said. “In the third period where, we had to work our hardest, they outworked us.”

The Cardinals (1-2-1 overall) take to the ice again Friday, as they host Hamline in a 7 p.m. Minnesota Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at SMU Ice Arena.