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WINONA, Minn. — Sunday's rematch between the Saint Mary's University and St. Thomas women's hockey teams got off to a eerily similar start to Saturday's opening game of the two-game conference series — with one team jumping out to a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals — who scored the game's first two goals in Saturday's 4-3 loss at UST — this time around it was the Tommies who got out to the 2-0 lead Sunday.

And the Tommies didn't stop there, as UST would score three times in the game's opening 20 minutes and never looked back in handing SMU a 4-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Ice Arena.

"If we play the way we did in the third period, the outcome easily could have been different," said SMU coach Terry Mannor. "We did not play as well as we are capable in the first two periods, and St. Thomas made us pay for that."

After spotting the Tommies that 3-0 lead — on first-period goals by Jenny Saxon, Anna Kubes and Tara Baago — the Cardinals finally broke through, as Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) scored her second goal in as many days two minutes into the second period.

The Tommies, however, answered eight minutes later, as Mary Grace Flesher beat SMU goalie Marah Shields (Mitford, Mich.) for her second goal of the season to give UST a 4-1 cushion heading into the game's final 20 minutes.

And what a third period it was for the Cardinals.

SMU, which managed just 16 shots in the first two periods combined, peppered UST goalie Alise Riedel with 16 shots in the third period alone, and cut the gap to 4-2 on a Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) short-handed tally with seven minutes remaining in regulation.

That, however, would be as close the Cardinals would get, as UST held on to complete the conference sweep.

Shields — making her first collegiate start — finished with 25 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Riedel recorded 25 saves for the Tommies.

The Cardinals (0-2-0 MIAC, 0-3-0 overall) returns to action next weekend, traveling to St. Cloud, Minn., for a pair of conference games against Saint Benedict.