ST. PAUL, Minn. — The schedule gods have not been kind to the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team this season.
When the Cardinals took the ice for Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch against Hamline, it marked the sixth straight game to open the season in which SMU had faced a team that has at least received votes in the USCHO.com Top 15 – including nonconference matchups against No. 5 UW-Eau Claire and No. 7 UW-River Falls.
And, unfortunately for coach
Sarah Murray, Saturday's outcome was eerily similar to the previous five, as Hamline completed its conference sweep of the Cardinals with a 4-1 victory at TRIA Rink.
Morgan Wohlers got things rolling for the Pipers, netting a shorthanded tally just 2:52 into the opening period for an early 1-0 HU lead.
The Cardinals settled down and held the Pipers at bay over the rest of the first period, and through the first 12 minutes of the second.
With their offense cranked up — the Pipers peppered SMU goalie
Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.) with 23 second-period shots — HU broke through again at 12:45 of the middle frame on a goal by Emme Nelson to push its lead to 2-0.
After being held off the scoreboard in all three periods in Friday's 3-0 loss to the Pipers — as well as through the first 36:57 of Saturday's rematch — the Cardinals finally broke through with less than four minutes remaining in the second, as
Leah Parker (Hudson, Wis.) netted her first goal as a Cardinal, off an assist from
Anne Carmean (Spring Lake Park, Minn.), to cut the deficit to 2-1 heading into the third period.
That, however, would be as close as SMU would get, as the Pipers tacked on goals by Peyton Luff and Ally Steffensmeier in the game's final stanza to seal the win, and the HU sweep.
Rimstad was busy all day between the pipes for SMU, finishing with a career-high 40 saves. The freshman, whose previous career best was 26, had cumulated a combined 44 saves in her first two starts in a Cardinal jersey.
The Cardinals (0-2-0 MIAC, 0-6-0 overall) are back in action next weekend when they face yet another nationally ranked team, squaring off against Augsburg in a pair of MIAC contests. SMU will head to Ed Saugestad Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday, before the teams return to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.
