By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Special teams were not very special for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cardinals came up empty on all six of their power-play opportunities, while Augsburg converted on two of three chances with the man advantage, as the Auggies handed Saint Mary's a 4-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Ed Saugestad Rink.
 
Augsburg — which dealt the Cardinals a 3-2 setback in the first game of the two-game conference series Friday evening at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena — netted a pair of goals in less than two minutes in the first period to grab a 2-0 lead.
 
The Auggies padded that advantage to 3-0 on Emily Ach's third goal of the season at 5:47 of the middle period, before Saint Mary's finally got on the scoreboard on a goal by Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.) — off an assist from Sophia Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.) — to cut the deficit to 3-1 heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Unfortunately, it was the Auggies, not the Cardinals, who found the back of the net in the third period, getting an insurance goal from Bridget Wagner with less than seven minutes remaining to ice the win.
 
Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) finished with 29 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Augsburg's McKenna Manelli stopped 19 of Saint Mary's 20 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (0-4-0 MIAC, 2-4-0 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Eau Claire, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against the Blugolds.