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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team did something no other MIAC team has been able to do against seventh-ranked Gustavus all season — score more two goals.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their three goals came up one goal short, as Gustavus broke a 3-3 tie four minutes into the third period on a power play goal by Carolyn Draayer to lift GAC to a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Ice Arena.

"I was extremely pleased with the effort tonight," said SMU Coach Terry Mannor. "I thought we played very well — but we can't afford to spend as much time in the penalty box as we did. You can't give a team as talented as Gustavus eight power-play opportunities — they'll make you pay for it, which is exactly what happened tonight."

The Cardinals dominated play early, owning an 8-0 lead in shots on goal — including the game's first goal, a tally by McKenna Parent (Anoka, Minn.) with 5:48 expired in the opening period.

The Gusties got the equalizer on a goal by Melissa Doyle at 10:46, but the deadlock did not last long, as SMU's Katie LeTourneau (White Bear Lake, Minn.) rifled a slap shot from the point that beat GAC goalie Lindsay Hibbard, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage after the game's opening 20 minutes.

Lydia Wagner wasted no time pulling GAC even, beating SMU goalie Sarah Gustafson (Esko, Minn.) just 56 seconds into the second period, while Doyle netted her second of the game seven minutes later to give the Gusties their first lead of the game, 3-2.

Trailing for the first time all game didn't sit too well with the Cardinals, so Breanna Peterson (Macomb, Mich.) did something about it, scoring her fifth of the season less than a minute after Doyle's second tally to knot the game at 3-3.

It was Gustavus that dominated play in the second period, outshooting SMU 21-6 — but thanks in part to the stellar goalkeeping of Gustafson — the two teams headed to the third period deadlocked at 3-3.

Draayer broke the 3-3 tie at 4:09 of the third period, netting an unassisted power play tally, and the Gusties held the Cardinals at bay the rest of the way — including killing off a five-minute SMU power-play in the game's final six minutes.

Gustafson finished with 36 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Hibbard kicked out 27 of the 30 SMU shots she faced in helping the Gusties push their conference winning streak to 20 straight.

The Cardinals (3-6-0 MIAC, 5-10-1 overall) get another shot at the league-leading Gusties on Friday, as SMU heads to the Don Roberts Ice Arena in St. Peter, Minn., for a 2 p.m. rematch with Gustavus (9-0-0 MIAC, 11-3-2)