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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team's hopes of reaching the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs were alive — albeit on life support — when the Cardinals squared off against Concordia Friday evening at the SMU Ice Arena.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Cobbers' officially pulled the plug on those hopes, as Concordia scored two goals in each of the first two periods in handing SMU a 5-2 MIAC setback at the SMU Ice Arena.

“It really was a lot closer than a 5-2 game,” said SMU coach Terry Mannor. “I thought we played pretty well early on, we just seemed to lose a little bit of our jump in the second period.”

The Cobbers jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead, getting goals from Breann Julius and Madison Gendreau, before the Cardinals got on the board three minutes into the second period on Erin Stenseth's (Eau Claire, Wis.) seventh goal of the season.

Concordia would answer with two goals in a three-minute span late in the second period to push its lead to 4-1 heading into the game's final 20 minutes.

Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) scored her seventh of the season at 7:30 of the third to get SMU within two, 4-2, but Gendreau's second of the game seven minutes later sealed the win for the Cobbers.

Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) finished with 23 saves for the Cardinals — including 12 in the second period — while Rebecca Hendrickson stopped five shots in each of the three periods, notching 15 saves in posting the win for the Cobbers.

The Cardinals (5-9-3 MIAC, 6-12-4 overall) get another shot at the Cobbers on Saturday, as SMU hosts Concordia in a 2 p.m. conference game at the SMU Ice Arena.