WINONA, Minn. — As the seconds began to tick down on the second period Friday evening, Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach
Sarah Murray must have been feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
After all, Murray and the Cardinals had been in that exact same situation — managing just one goal — three times in their last four games.
This time around, however, the Cardinals weren't about to settle for just one goal.
Saint Mary's scored solo goals in all three periods — including what proved to be the game-winner with 42 seconds remaining in the second period — en route to a 3-1 victory over the Auggies at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
The Cardinals needed only four skaters on the ice to score the game's first goal, as
Delaney Wolf (Bismarck, N.D.) beat Auggie goalie Abby Bollig with SMU's first shorthanded tally of the season five minutes into the opening period to give Saint Mary's the 1-0 advantage.
Augsburg outshot the Cardinals 11-9 in the opening 20 minutes, but
Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) was up to the task between the pipes for SMU, and Saint Mary's took that one-goal cushion into the locker room at the intermission.
Despite being outshot 10-3 in the second period, it was the Cardinals who followed the "quality over quantity" motto, scoring on one of those three shots on goal, as
Anne Carmean (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) beat Bollig — and the clock — scoring her first goal of the season with 42 seconds remaining to give SMU a two-goal lead, 2-0.
And if scoring two goals in a game for the first time in their last five games was fun, netting three goals was even more fun.
Carson Sheridan (Waunakee, Wis.) pushed Saint Mary's lead to 3-0 six minutes into the third period, beating Bollig low to the glove side for her second goal of the season.
Ziakas had her shutout bid foiled with 1:29 remaining in regulation, but that would be the only goal the senior netminder would allow, finishing with 28 saves en route to the win.
The Cardinals (8-4-1 MIAC, 11-8-1 overall) and Auggies will conclude their two-game conference series on Saturday, this time heading to Ed Saugestad Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 4 p.m. rematch.
