MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — For the second game in a row, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team entered the third period of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Augsburg clinging to a 1-0 lead.
 
Unlike Friday, however—when Augsburg scored the only goal of the final period to salvage a 1-1 tie—it was the Cardinals who would find the back of the net in the third period, as Saint Mary's blanked the Auggies 2-0 to earn three of the possible four points in the weekend series.
 
"That was a great game from start to finish by both teams," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor. "It was one of those games that you feel fantastic to win, and heartbreaking to lose.
 
"It was our best overall 60 minutes of the season—and it could not have come at a better time."
 
The Cardinals' Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) broke a scoreless tie with her third goal of the season at 5:09 of the second period.
 
Saint Mary's would maintain that one-goal cushion until the 3:13 mark of the third period, when Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) scored a shorthanded goal to give the Cardinals some breathing room.
 
Not that they needed it with Marah Shields (Milford, Mich.) between the pipes.
 
Shields stopped all 31 shots she faced in recording the shutout—her second of the season—while Augsburg goalie Erika Allen finished with 26 saves.
 
The Cardinals (8-4-2 MIAC, 10-8-2 overall) are back on the road next weekend, heading to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., for a pair of conference games against Concordia. The two teams square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, before completing the two-game conference series with a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday.