MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team headed into their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff opener against Concordia riding a wave of momentum—having scored two or more goals in each of its last nine games, while allowing just eight goals in over that same time frame.
 
And the Cobbers appeared ripe for the picking, having been shut out in its final two regular-season games, and managing just four wins in their last 10.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Cobbers proved to be anything but what they appeared.
 
The Cobbers scored a pair of third-period goals, breaking a 1-1 tie and handing the Cardinals a season-ending 3-1 setback at the Moorhead Sports Center.
 
"It's a tough loss—both teams played well," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor, whose Cardinals closed out the season 10-13-3 overall. "I thought we controlled the play in the third period, and then in one shift, the momentum swung and they scored.
 
"It was that tight a game—one converted scoring chance was the different between a win and a loss," Mannor added. "It's a tough one to swallow, but this group should be proud of what they accomplished—all-in-all it was a good season."
 
Concordia struck first, getting a power-play goal by Tori Davis at 6:48 of the opening period—and it appeared like the Cobbers would take that 1-0 advantage into the lockerroom at the break.
 
Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) & Co., had other ideas.
 
Lien took a feed from Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and beat Cobber goalie Andrew Klug for her fifth goal of the season with just 30 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
 
The game remained deadlocked through the entire second period, and for the first 13 minutes of the third—thanks to the play of Cardinal goalie Tori Herrmann (Elk River, Minn.) and Klug between the pipes.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it would be the Cobbers who would break the stalemate, as Hannah Johnston beat Herrmann for her fourth goal of the season—and Anna Westmark would add an empty-net goal with 40 seconds remaining to seal the win for Concordia.
 
Herrmann finished with 18 saves for the Cardinals—including seven each in the second and third periods—while Klug stopped 22 Saint Mary's shots for the Cobbers.
 
With the win, the Cobbers (14-11-1 overall) advance to Saturday's MIAC Playoff semifinal, heading St. Thomas Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., for a 2 p.m. showdown with top-seeded St. Thomas.