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WINONA, Minn. — All season long, Mackenzie Klimek (Hastings, Minn.) has made her presence felt by setting up her teammates — the Saint Mary's University sophomore entered the Cardinals' weekend Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against Saint Benedict boasting a team-leading seven assists.

That all changed on Friday night.

Klimek went from the shadows to the spotlight, scoring two goals — one in each of the first two periods — in leading the Cardinal women's hockey team to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Blazers at the SMU Ice Arena.

“It was nice to get a win like that,” said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose team pushed its unbeaten streak to three straight (2-0-1) — while holding Saint Benedict without a goal for the second straight game. “I wouldn't say we played a perfect game, there were a lot of things we still need to improve on — but overall, it was good to get the win.”

The Cardinals got on the board first as Klimek netted her second of the season, banging home a Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Ile, Mich.) rebound midway through the first period.

SMU pushed its lead to 2-0 when CSB goalie Kaitlyn Rolando could not handle Mary DeBartolo's (Chicago, Ill.) knuckle-puck that trickled through Rolando's pads and into the net with six minutes remaining in the period.

Klimek then played a little “beat the clock,” rifling a shot past Rolando with :01 seconds remaining to give the Cardinals a 3-0 edge heading into the game's final period.

Hope Karban (Oconto, Wis.) made it a 4-0 leads with her third-period tally — and that was more than enough for SMU goalie Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.), who stopped all 21 shots she faced in recording her first shutout of the season and fifth of her career.

“It's really good to see our offense continue to generate good scoring opportunities,” said Mannor, whose team has now scored 10 goals in its last three games. “But we can't afford to celebrate too much, we need to come back and play even better (Saturday).”

The Cardinals (4-6-1 MIAC, 6-9-1 overall) close out their two-game MIAC series against Saint Benedict on Saturday, as SMU hosts the Blazers in a 2 p.m. contest at the SMU Ice Arena.