WINONA, Minn. — After squaring off against ninth-ranked UW-Superior in a pair of nonconference games to open the season, the road didn't get any easier for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team.
 
In fact, according to the USCHO.com pollsters, they got just a bit tougher—as eighth-ranked St. Thomas came to town Friday to kick off a two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series with the Cardinals.
 
And, unfortunately for Saint Mary's, the Tommies were every bit as good as their national ranking, erupting for four goals in handing the Cardinals a 4-1 setback in the teams' conference opener at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
"St. Thomas is a very good team, but we didn't play up to our abilities, either," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor. "Physically I thought we worked very hard, we just didn't play well mentally—too many mistakes that, against a team as talented as St. Thomas, are going to haunt you."
 
After spotting the Tommies a 2-0 first-period lead, the Cardinals got to work, as Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) netted her second of the season in the opening seconds of the second period to cut the UST advantage to 2-1.
 
The game would remain a one-goal affair until midway through the third period, when UST's Erika Bjorkman and Rachel Friberg scored two minutes apart to push the Tommies advantage to 4-1.
 
And the Cardinals never recovered.s
 
Marah Shields (Milford, Mich.) finished with 33 saves—including 27 after the game's opening 20 minutes—while UST goalie Phaylen Meyer stopped 23 of the Cardinals' 24 shots.
 
The Cardinals get another shot at the eighth-ranked Tommies on Saturday, as the two teams head to St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for the second game of their two-game conference series. Puck drop is slated for 2 p.m.