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NORTHFIELD, Minn. — In a span of 17 seconds, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team went from a 0-0 tie to staring a 2-0 deficit, as St. Olaf used that 17-second, two-goal burst to hand the Cardinals a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Saturday evening at the Northfield Ice Arena.

The Cardinals — who raced out to a 4-1 first-period advantage on Friday, only to have the Oles score four unanswered goals to beat them 5-4 at the SMU Ice Arena — weren't able to duplicate that quick start on Saturday.

In fact, it was the Oles who got out of the gate quickly on Saturday, as St. Olaf's Kira Clunis and Margot Fleming found the back of the net 17 seconds apart in the game's first 3:28 to put SMU in an early 2-0 hole.

The Cardinals would cut that deficit to 2-1 before the period ended, as Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) netted her second goal of the season at 15:38 of the opening period, but that would be the extent of the Cardinals' offensive effort.

After a scoreless second period, St. Olaf regained its two-goal advantage on Devyn Hotho's second goal of the season at 1:10 of the third period, and the Cardinals were not able to answer in falling to the Oles for the second straight night.

SMU (1-3-1 MIAC, 2-5-3 overall) are now off until Jan. 6-7, when the Cardinals square off against UW-Eau Claire in a home-and-home nonconference series.