Box Score  | GameDay Preview

ST. PETER, Minn. — Talk about a tall season-opening order.

The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team kicked off its 2013-14 season Saturday with a nonconference showdown against Gustavus — a team that reached its fourth straight NCAA Frozen Four a year ago, is currently ranked No. 4 in the USCHO.com Preseason Poll and was unanimously picked by the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's hockey coaches to win its 10th straight MIAC regular-season title.

And Saturday afternoon at Don Roberts Ice Arena, the Cardinals learned first-hand that the Gusties are every bit as good as the preseason hype.

Gustavus, which went 24-0-1 during the regular season a year ago — including a perfect 18-0-0 run through the conference schedule — had its high-octane offense running in high gear, handing SMU an 8-2 setback at Don Roberts Ice Arena.

"I got exactly what I wanted from this game," said SMU coach Terry Mannor. "We saw what needs to be done — both on an individual and on a team basis — for us to be successful.

"Gustavus is a very talented team, but I thought we played right with them for much of the game," Mannor added. "I really don't think the score was indicative of the way we played today."

GAC got on the board first on a goal by Courtney Boucher at 14:19, but SMU answered right back, as Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) netted her first of the season just over a minute later. The Gusties, however, would score two more times before the period would end to take a 3-1 advantage into the locker room after 20 minutes.

Gustavus pushed its advantage to 6-2 with three goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period, before Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) netted SMU's second goal of the game with 1:51 remaining in the period.

That, however, would be all the offense the Cardinals would muster, while the Gusties would add to more goals in the game's final 20 minutes to ice the win.

The Cardinals (0-1-0 overall) are back in action on Nov. 16, when they kick off conference play by traveling to the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for a 2 p.m. matchup with the Tommies. The same two teams will then return to the SMU Ice Arena on Sunday for a 2 p.m. rematch.