ST. PAUL, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team took to the ice Friday evening for the first of back-to-back Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games against St. Catherine with a full head of stream — fueled by a three-game winning streak that included a pair of 5-2 victories over St. Olaf last weekend.
 
And thanks to their "quick strike" approach, the Cardinals continued their winning ways against the Wildcats.
 
SMU scored two goals less than a minute apart in the first period and added a third tally just 55 seconds into the second period en route to a 4-0 conference win over the Wildcats at Drake Arena.
 
It took only seven minutes for the Cardinals to kick its offense into high gear, as Celia Midtbo (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kennedy Kraus (Kasson, Minn.) scored less than a minute apart midway through the opening period give Saint Mary's a quick 2-0 lead.
 
And the Cardinals weren't finished — not by a long shot.
 
SMU needed less than a minute to kick off the second period to extend its lead to 3-0, as Sophia Paduano (Westby, Wis.) found the back of the net just 55 seconds into the middle frame to extend Saint Mary's advantage to 3-0.
 
 Taverie Sherner (Maple Grove, Minn.) would tack on an insurance goal with 2:39 to play in regulation, and Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.) would close out her third shutout of the season — and fifth in her two-year collegiate careering — stopping all 18 Wildcat shots she faced
 
The Cardinals (6-3-0 MIAC, 11-4-0 overall) and Wildcats are right back on the ice on Saturday as the two teams head to the SMU Ice Arena for the 2 p.m. rematch in their two-game MIAC series.
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