WINONA, Minn. — The road most definitely didn't get any easier for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team Saturday evening.
 
Just 24 hours after delivering a thrilling 2-1 win over seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire, the Cardinals took the ice facing off against a second straight nationally ranked team — this time going toe-to-toe with No. 4 UW-River Falls.
 
The Falcons, who led the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with 160 goals a year ago — and boasted the reigning WIAC and USCHO.com Player of the Year in Maddie McCollins — proved to be very ungracious hosts, dealing the Cardinals their first loss of the season, a 3-1 nonconference setback at W.H. Hunt Arena.
 
UW-River Falls broke a scoreless deadlock at 8:17 of the first period, as MaKenna Aure beat SMU goalie Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.).
 
And the Falcons turned up the offensive heat in the second stanza, scoring twice — the first 3:13 into the second period and the second six minutes later — before Saint Mary's finally got on the board at 14:52, when Reese Heitzman (Hermantown, Minn.) scored for the second straight game and the fifth time this season.
 
Rimstad, who came 13 seconds away from notching her third straight shutout in a 2-1 win over No. 7 UW-Eau Claire, posted a season-high 42 saves, while UW-RF goalie Jordan O'Connor stopped 23 of SMU's 24 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (3-1-0 overall) are back in action next weekend, when they kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against Hamline. Hamline will host the Cardinals in a 7 p.m. matchup at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday, before the two teams head to the SMU Ice Arena for Saturday's 2 p.m. rematch.
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