WINONA, Minn. — The road got a little tougher for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team Friday.
 
Make that a lot tougher.
 
Fresh off a 7-0, 8-0 shellacking of Lake Forest in their nonconference season-opening series last weekend, the Cardinals put their shiny new 2-0-0 record on the line against nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire Friday afternoon.
 
The Blugolds limited the high-octane Cardinal offense to "just" two goals in the teams' nonconference matinee at the SMU Ice Arena, but with Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.) between the pipes, two goals was just fine for the Cardinals.
 
Saint Mary's scored single goals in both the first and third periods — and came within 13 seconds of a third consecutive shutout — in dealing the seventh-ranked Blugolds a 2-1 nonconference setback.
 
With the victory, the Cardinals — who have now outscored their first three opponents 17-1 — improved to 3-0-0, marking the first time SMU has opened the season with back-to-back-to-back victories since beating Marian, St. Norbert, and UW-Eau Claire to kick off the 2010-11 campaign.
 
The Blugolds had a golden opportunity to grab the early momentum midway through the first period, but the Cardinals — thanks in large part to the play of Rimstad — killed off four consecutive minutes of UW-Eau Claire power play to keep the game scoreless.
 
Less than three minutes after killing off the second of those back-to-back minor penalties, the Cardinals got a power play of their own — and they cashed in.
 
Maggie Albers (Maple Grove, Minn.) scored her second of the season, off assists from Taverie Sherner (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Kenzie Meland (Zimmerman, Minn.), to give SMU a 1-0 lead with less than seven minutes to play in the opening frame.
 
SMU held the Blugolds at bay over the final 6:32 and, despite being outshot 14-8, took that one-goal cushion into the first intermission.
 
The Cardinals killed off two more Blugold power-play chances in the second period, and came up empty on a power play of their own, leaving SMU clinging to that 1-0 advantage heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
A nerve-wracking 20 minutes for the Cardinals, who had to survive two more UW-Eau Claire power plays, before Reese Heitzman (Hermantown, Minn.) — the reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week — netted her team-leading fourth goal of the season, an empty netter at 18:05 to push the SMU lead to 2-0.
 
UW-Eau Claire foiled SMU's bid for a third consecutive shutout — something the Cardinals haven't pulled off since blanking Bethel twice and shutting out Buffalo State in a seven-day span during the 2003-04 season — scoring a short-handed goal with just 13 seconds to play in regulation.
 
Rimstad, who has been in goal for all three SMU victories this season, stopped 29 of the 30 UW-Eau Claire shots while Blugold goalie Alexa Backman stopped 20 of SMU's 22 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (3-0-0 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, traveling to Hunt Arena in River Falls, Wis., for a second straight nonconference showdown against a nationally ranked team — this time a 7:05 matchup against No. 4 UW-River Falls.
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