Box Score  | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicked off its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a pair of one-goal victories over Hamline last weekend — beating the Pipers 2-1 in overtime and 4-3.

And Friday evening, the Cardinals were involved in their third straight one-goal decision, as SMU hosted St. Catherine at the SMU Ice Arena.

Unlike those two wins over Hamline, however, this time around the Cardinals came out on the short end of the one-goal outcome, as St. Catherine scored three unanswered goals and held off SMU 3-2.

Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) got the Cardinals on the board first, as the sophomore, stole an errant Wildcat pass and beat SCU goalie Alex Hall to the short side. It was the team-leading third goal of the season — and second shorthanded tally — for Peterson.

The Cardinals continued to dominate in the second period, outshooting St. Catherine 13-5. But it was the Wildcats who had the upper hand on the scoreboard, as SCU scored a pair of tip-in goals off slap shots from Maureen Ryan.

Bailey Rasmussen redirected a Ryan blast past SMU goalie Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) midway through the second period to pull SCU even, and Nicki Mosbeck followed less than three minutes later, deflecting a Ryan shot through the pads of Gustafson to give St. Catherine a 2-1 advantage heading into the final period.

St. Catherine added its second straight power play goal at 16:29 of the third period to push its lead to 3-1, but the Cardinals weren't done, as Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) scored her second of the season off an assist from Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) with 1:06 left on the clock.

That, however, would be as close as SMU would get, as the Wildcats held off a furious Cardinal barrage in the game's final minute to snap Saint Mary's three-game winning streak.

Hall stopped 34 shots in winning her third game of the season in goal for SCU, while Gustafson suffered the loss, finishing with 16 saves.

The Cardinals (2-1-0 MIAC, 3-2-0 overall) get another shot at the Wildcats on Saturday, as SMU travels to Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 4 p.m. showdown with St. Catherine at Drake Arena.