DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team had plenty to be thankful for following their final game before the holiday break Tuesday evening against the University of Dubuque.
After all, the Cardinals closed out the 2023 portion of their schedule with eight wins in their first 12 games, boasted their best nine-game start to a season (7-2-0) since the 1999-2000 campaign, have just one loss that wasn't to a team in the Top 3 of the most recent USCHO.com Poll, and had already scored 41 goals, just 11 shy of their total of a year ago with 13 games still to play.
The only thing the Spartans had to be thankful for following Tuesday's matchup with Saint Mary's … the fact that they don't have to face the high-powered Cardinals again.
Reese Heitzman (Hermantown, Minn.) posted her first collegiate four-point game — scoring once and assisting on three others — and the Cardinals scored three goals in each of the first two periods in rolling to a 7-0 nonconference victory over the Spartans in the teams' first-ever meeting.
Saint Mary's put the game out of reach early, erupting for three goals in the final nine minutes of the opening period, while outshooting the out-matched Spartans 21-1.
It took 12 tries to get one past Spartan goalie Savannah Wuitschick, but once the Cardinals did, the goals came in bunches.
After being thwarted by Wuitschick on their first 11 shots, Heitzman finally broke the 0-0 deadlock with her team-leading 11th goal of the season. Thirty-two seconds later, that lead jumped to 2-0, as
Sophia Paduano (Westby, Wis.) found the back of the net.
Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.) played her role as the set-up man for her linemates, collecting assists on both goals.
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
Taverie Sherner (Maple Grove, Minn.) posted Saint Mary's third goal of the opening period, beating Wuitschick with an unassisted tally with 3:31 remaining, and the Cardinals carried that three-goal advantage into the first intermission.
SMU did not waste any time picking up where it left off in the second period, getting a power-play goal by
Kenzie Meland (Zimmerman, Minn.) just 45 seconds into the middle frame and another by
Celia Midtbo (Minneapolis, Minn.) six minutes later to extend the lead to 5-0. Heitzman picked up assists on both goals, giving the high-scoring SMU freshman four points before the game was even half over.
Kas Kingston (Black Diamond, Alberta) completed the Cardinals' second straight three-goal period, netting SMU third of the second period with 6:03 to play, and
Leah Parker (Hudson, Wis.) added a late, third-period goal to round out the scoring.
Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.) stopped two Spartan second-period shots, before giving way to
Riley Vander Esch (Sioux Falls, S.D.), who made two second-period saves and kicked out both Spartan shots in the third period. Wuitschick, meanwhile, stopped 51 of the Cardinals' 58 shots on goal for UD.
The Cardinals (8-4-0 overall) are now off until Jan. 9, when they return home to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena for their final nonconference game of the season, a 4 p.m. matinee against Lawrence.
