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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — This wasn't what Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Terry Mannor was hoping for as his Cardinals returned to action after the holiday break.

Lake Forest erupted for two goals in all three periods — and held off a furious SMU rally in the game's final minutes — as the Foresters handed the Cardinals a 6-5 nonconference setback Sunday evening at the Alumni Memorial Rink.

"We had our moments tonight," said Mannor. "We were a little sluggish in the first period, which can be attributed to bus legs, but after that I thought we played pretty well.

"Our special teams weren't the best," added Mannor, whose team went 0-for-7 on the power play, while surrendering a pair of shorthanded goals in the third period. "We made some mental mistakes that (Lake Forest) capitalized on, and that really turned out to be the difference in the game."

Lake Forest wasted little time breaking the ice, as Logan Taylor broke behind the SMU defense and beat SMU goalie Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.) to the glove side for her fifth goal of the season — and a quick 1-0 Forester lead four minutes into the opening period.

Lake Forest struck again at 14:46, as Melissa Paluch's shot trickled through Herrmann's pads and found its way into the back of the net, giving the Foresters a two-goal advantage after the game's opening 20 minutes.

After coming up empty on their 16 first-period shots, the Cardinals finally broke through as Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) banged home a rebound off a Mary DeBartolo (Chicago, Ill.) wrap-around attempt to cut the Foresters' lead to 2-1 early in the second period.

And that was just the beginning of a what proved to be a high-scoring second period that saw four goals scored.

Lake Forest appeared to have the momentum shift back in its favor midway through the second stanza, as Isabel Regine beat Herrmann right off the face-off to make it 3-1. SMU, however, had other ideas, as Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) answered 12 seconds later to once again make it a one goal game, 3-2.

The Foresters would again regain their two-goal advantage at 13:09, as Marissa Weber whistled a backhand shot over Herrmann's shoulder, off the cross-bar and into the net to give Lake Forest a 4-2 cushion.

Unfortunately for SMU, this time around the Cardinals did not have a quick response, as Lake Forest took yet another two-goal advantage into the second-period intermission.

The Foresters would put together their third straight two-goal period in the third, as Paluch netted her second of the game, a shorthanded tally, at 9:06, and Megan Greeneway followed with her team-leading 15th of the season 26 seconds later — also shorthanded to make it a 6-2 Lake Forest lead.

As quickly as the Foresters struck, however, the Cardinals would strike back, netting back-to-back-to back goals to cut the Lake Forest lead to 6-5. Lien would open the SMU onslaught with her second of the game, a shorthanded tally at 16:11, before Brittany Therrien (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Haley Coolsaet (Grosse Ile, Mich.) followed with goals 34 seconds apart less than two minutes after Lien's to get the Cardinals within one.

That, however, would be as close as SMU would get in falling to 2-7-0 overall.

Herrmann, making her first start of the season, finished with 24 saves for the Cardinals, while Lake Forest goalie Stacey Dierking kicked out 29 of SMU's 34 shots.

The Cardinals will get another shot at the Foresters on Monday, as the two teams square off in the second game of their two-game nonconference series at 4 p.m. at Alumni Memorial Rink.