By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — When it comes to playing Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes, Augsburg has done an Academy Award-winning portrayal of a brick wall of late.
In fact, over their previous six MIAC games, the Auggies had outscored their opponents 25-1 — including shutouts in each of their last four contests.
The Cardinals, however, were unimpressed, scoring more goals in the third period than Augsburg's last six opponents had scored — combined.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their two-goal third-period outburst fell one goal short, as Augsburg hung on to deal Saint Mary's a 3-2 conference setback at Ed Saugestad Rink.
The Cardinals recorded the first two shots on goal in the game's opening two minutes, but Augsburg would answer with 12 straight shots on Cardinal goalie
Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) — including Bridget Wagner's goal at 4:37 — to give the Auggies a 1-0 lead after the game's opening 20 minutes.
The Cardinals would remain a goal down after a scoreless second period — thanks to Keeley, who stopped all 16 Auggie shots in the middle frame and owned 29 saves through the first two periods.
With Keeley doing her part at one end,
Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) did her part at the other, putting an end to the Auggies' 14-period MIAC shutout streak with her first goal of the season just 1:38 into the third period, pulling Saint Mary's even, 1-1.
Unfortunately, having their shutout streak snapped did not sit well with the Auggies, who retaliated with back-to-back goals from Katie Flynn and Mackenze Moiner less than three minutes apart midway through the final period to give Augsburg a 3-1 advantage.
An advantage that lasted just 1:19, as
Lauryn Folker (Cody, Wyo.) pulled the Cardinals back within one, 3-2, with her third of the season off assists from
Courtney Moser (Blaine, Minn.) and
Sydney Green (East Bethel, Minn.).
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get.
Keeley was busy between the pipes for the Cardinals, finishing with 41 saves — two shy of her season-high. Abby Bollig, meanwhile, stopped 15 of Saint Mary's 17 shots on goal
The Cardinals (3-7-1 MIAC, 6-10-2 overall) and Auggies (8-3-0 MIAC, 13-5-0 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 4 p.m.
