By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — League-leading St. Thomas entered Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team having held its opponents to one goal or less in nine of its 12 games this season.
 
The Cardinals hit that mark in just three minutes, when Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) netted the first of her two goals on the night.
 
Problem was, by the time Hafiz netted goal No. 2, the Tommies had rattled off five unanswered goals, as St. Thomas dealt the Cardinals a 5-2 conference setback at the St. Thomas Ice Arena.
 
Hafiz got the Cardinals off and running, scoring her team-leading seventh of the season at the three-minute mark, and the Cardinals would maintain that one-goal advantage until late in the second period — when the Tommies' offense came to life.
 
Kate Winiecki pulled UST even with her second of the season at 14:03 — and within a span of 1:03, Alli Monrean and Lillian Rue also found the back of the net, giving the Tommies a 3-1 lead heading into the game's final 20-minute period.
 
St. Thomas would tack on third-period goals by Chloe McEnelly and Allisoin Parknell, before Hafiz notched her second of the game and eighth of the season at 12:41.
 
Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) finished with 33 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while UST goalie Eryn Colley recorded 16 saves.
 
The Cardinals (2-4-1 MIAC, 5-7-2 overall) and Tommies (6-0-0 MIAC, 7-2-3 overall) head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for the second game of their two-game conference series on Saturday. Opening face-off is set for 3 p.m.