WINONA, Minn. - The Cardinals hosted conference opponent St. Catherine University for the first of two back-to-back games on Friday night. The Cardinals would notch their second shutout at home in a row overpowering the Wildcats, 3-0.
 
The Cardinals started out hot with Allie Urlaub winning the opening face-off and Jenna Kurkowski taking a shot a minute into the period. 17 seconds later Celia Midtbo took a rip off a won faceoff by Teagan Philips and found the back of the net, making it 1-0 only a minute and 17 seconds into the game.
 
The Cardinals never eased up. Between the 1:37 and 4:09 minute mark, the Cardinals took nine consecutive shots from 9 separate players. The Wildcats would respond with 2 shots of their own, one being saved by freshman goalie Magali Fillion and the other missing the entire net.
 
After intense back-and-forth play, the Cardinals would seek to score once again. Senior Sidney Polzin nets her second of the season with an assist by Kas Kingston and Mikayla Vasilevich with three minutes left in the first period. 
 
The second period was a grind, with a lot of back-and-forth between the teams but not much scoring. Midbto blocked a shot in the 8th minute and would have another in the 14th. Kingston would also have a block at the 19th minute mark. This time, the Wildcats would have the upper hand in shots on goal with 21 as opposed to Saint Mary's 11.
 
The third period began much like the first, with the Cardinals launching a plethora of shots. The Wildcats managed only a single shot in the opening 43 seconds, and didn't get another opportunity until the 13th minute mark. During that stretch, the Cardinals fired off 19 shots, 10 of which were on target, showcasing their strength on both offense and defense.
 
With one minute remaining, the Wildcats pulled their goalie and would suffer the consequences. Only seconds later, Midtbo scored her second goal of the night with an assist by Urlaub. This would end the game 3-0 for the Cardinals and move onto 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in conference. 
 
The Cardinals took a season high 65 shots all together with 40 of them being on target. 
 
Midtbo led the team in goals with two, five on the season now, and Polzin was behind her with one. Fillion recorded a season high 21 saves in another dominant shutout for the Freshman and second in a row.
 
The women's hockey team will travel to face St. Catherine once more tomorrow for a 2 p.m. puck drop in Saint Paul.