WINONA, Minn. ­— The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team opened conference play with a thrilling, 3-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Concordia Friday evening — with all three goals coming from freshmen netting their first collegiate tallies.
 
And Morgan Leib (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Sidney Polzin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) had so much fun scoring their first goal in a Cardinal uniform on Friday that they weren't about to wait long to score career goal No. 2.
 
Much to the delight of Cardinal head coach Sarah Murray.
 
Leib scored what proved to be the eventual game-winner early in the third period and Polzin added an empty-netter with 28 seconds remaining in regulation to fuel the Cardinals' sweep-clinching 3-1 victory over the Cobbers Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Cardinals struggled to find their offensive footing early in Saturday's rematch, as Concordia controlled the tempo and held a commanding 14-4 advantage in shots on goal through the first 12 minutes.
 
Cardinal goalie Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.), however, did her part — stopping everything the Cobbers threw at her in the game's opening 20 minutes — and the Cardinal offense got things rolling late, getting a goal from Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.) with 1:15 remaining to give SMU a 1-0 edge heading into the first intermission.
 
After Concordia knotted the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal by Mackenzie Oelkers at 12:19 of the second period, the Cardinals had a golden opportunity to regain the lead late in the period, but Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.) was thwarted on a penalty shot by the glove of CC goalie Kiana Flaig.
 
Saint Mary's would regain the one-goal advantage early in the third period, when Leib scored for the second straight game just 1:18 into the frame to give the Cardinals a 2-1 edge, and Polzin sealed the win with her second goal of the weekend in the waning seconds to ice the victory.
 
Keeley certainly did her part in helping secure Saint Mary's second straight conference win, stopping a career-high 44 shots, while Flaig finished with 23 saves in goal for the Cobbers.
 
The Cardinals (2-0-0 MIAC, 3-2-0 overall) are back in action — and back on their home ice — next weekend, as they welcome Saint Benedict to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for a pair of conference games. SMU and CSB will square off at 7 p.m. next Friday, before completing the two-game MIAC series with a 2 p.m. matinee the following afternoon.