By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — After scoring just a combined two goals in their last three games, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team was in dire need of an offensive jump start Friday evening.
 
Which is exactly what Cardinal senior Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) gave them.
 
Cwik scored a pair of goals to ignite a season-high six-goal offensive performance, as the Cardinals rolled to a 6-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Saint Benedict at Dave Torrey Ice Arena.
 
It took Saint Mary's 23 minutes to get warmed up, but once they did, the Cardinals were unstoppable.
 
After a scoreless first period—not to mention the first three minutes of the second—Cwik got the Cardinal offense shifted out of neutral, scoring off an assist from Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) at 3:03.
 
Hailey Nadeau (Cottage Grove, Minn.) made it 2-0 six minutes later, scoring her first collegiate goal off an assist from Molly Abraham (Sterling Heights, Mich.). Saint Benedict cut the deficit to one, as Bridget Miller beat Saint Mary's goalie Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) at 14:55.
 
The one-goal advantage did not last long, however, as Cwik found the back of the net for a second straight period, scoring her third of the season less than two minutes after Miller's tally to give Saint Mary's a 3-1 cushion.
 
And the second-period offensive onslaught wasn't finished.
 
Lauren Rogers (Barrington, Ill.) netted her first goal in a Cardinal uniform at 17:51 and Miller answered with her second of the night 30 seconds later, cutting Saint Mary's lead to 4-2 heading into the final period.
 
The Cardinals would add a pair of third-period tallies—the first by Kayla Pierson at 10:26 and the second by Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.), an empty net tally at 19:49—to seal the Saint Mary's victory.
 
Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) finished the evening with a career-high three assists, while Rogers added a pair of assists to her second-period goal for her first collegiate three-point game.
 
Ziakas did her part, stopping 20 of the Blazers' 22 shots, while CSB goalie Julia Carle finished with 28 saves.
 
The Cardinals (2-3-0 MIAC, 4-4-0 overall) will go for the two-game MIAC sweep on Saturday, when they return to Dave Torrey Ice Arena for a 4 p.m. rematch with the Blazers.