ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team took the ice Saturday afternoon looking to pull another rabbit out of their hat — and create a little more MIAC magic against sixth-ranked Gustavus.
Less than 24 hours after getting a career-high 55-save effort from
Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) en route to a 1-1 tie against Gustavus — marking the fourth straight year in which the SMU and GAC have played to a tie — the Cardinals and Gusties squared off in Game 2 of their two-game conference series.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this time around, it was the Gusties who had a trick or two up their sleeves.
Gustavus held the Cardinals without a shot on goal until the eight-minute mark of the second period — and to just eight shots on goal for the game — while scoring two goals in both the second and third periods in dealing Saint Mary's a 5-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Don Roberts Ice Arena.
Gustavus waited until the very last seconds of the first period to get its offense rolling — literally — scoring with 39.5 seconds remaining to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.
Molly McHugh would make it 2-0, 8:37 into the second period, and, less than three minutes later, Brooke Power would find the back of the net to make it 3-0.
Hailey Holland would give the Gusties plenty of breathing room, scoring at 4:28 of the third period, and again less than two minutes later, to make it 5-0.
The Cardinals — who did not get their first shot on goal until
Morgan Leib was stopped by Gustavus goalie Katie McCoy at 7:09 of the second period — managed just four shots on goal through two periods and finished with eight for the game.
Ziakas, meanwhile, was once again busy between the pipes for the Cardinals, stopping 34 of the Gusties' 39 shots on goal.
The Cardinals (6-3-1 MIAC, 9-7-1 overall) are back in action next weekend, squaring off against St. Catherine in a pair of conference contests. SMU will head to Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup against SCU on Friday, before heading to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for the 2 p.m. rematch the following afternoon.
