Box Score Box Score | GameDay Preview

BLAINE, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University women's coach Terry Mannor hadn't witnessed it with his own two eyes, he would never have believed it — you could not have scripted it any better.

Playing in their final collegiate game, Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) and Alex Braun (Darwin, Minn.) accounted for all three of the Cardinals' goals, as SMU closed out its 2011-2012 season with a 3-2 victory over Bethel at the Bethel Arena.

And that was just the epilogue to a truly memorable final chapter for the Cardinals' senior class.

In Friday's 2-2 tie against the Royals, fellow seniors Sheree Haslemore (Gore, New Zealand) and Dana Kreuser (Maplewood, Minn.) had a hand in both of the Cardinals' goals — Haslemore scored SMU's first goal, while Kreuser picked up the first assist on the Cardinals' second.

"After the crazy season that we've had — with six ties and eight games that went into overtime — I could not have asked for a better finish," said Mannor. "To have our seniors got out and have the kind of weekend they did is just fitting — they were so important to this team all year, it was nice to see them go out this way."

Olson got the Cardinals on the board first Saturday, netting her sixth goal of the season eight minutes into the first period.

Olson also had a hand in SMU's second goal, as the senior forward fed the puck to Braun, whose shot beat Bethel goalie Jess Newstrom early in the second period.

The Royals, however, tallied a pair of unanswered goals before the second period ended, as the two teams headed into the final 20 minutes deadlocked at 2-2.

This time around, however, the Cardinals in general — and Olson in particular — weren't about to have this game end in a tie.

And to put the final exclamation point on her three-point game — not to mention a stellar collegiate career — it was Olson who netted the game-winner for the Cardinals midway through the third period off an assists from (who else?) Braun and Kreuser.

Olson — who finished with a team-leading 16 points this season to lead the team in scoring for the third straight year — closed out her collegiate career ranking in the top 10 in all three offensive categories: Points (8th, 66), goals (7th, 32) and assists (10th, 34).

"This was one of those games where we just dominated — until (Bethel) scored their first goal," Mannor said. "Their first goal took the wind out of our sails, but, fortunately, we were able to regroup in the third period and come away with the win."

With the win, the Cardinals closed out the season on a three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2), en route to a 7-12-6 overall record that included a 7-9-5 mark in conference play.