DUBUQUE, Iowa. - The Saint Mary's women's hockey team (6-3) hit the ice the day after Thanksgiving to play in the Mississippi Match Up hosted by the University of Dubuque. The Cardinals started the holiday tournament with a 4-2 victory over Lake Forest College on Friday afternoon. 
 
The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead in game one with Kenzie Meland finding an open Sophia Paduano who netted the first goal of the tournament just under ten minutes into the period. 
 
They were not stopping there as the momentum was on their side. Sophomore Reese Heitzman nailed the second goal for her team and her fourth of the season with an assist from her teammates Senior Allie Urlaub and fellow goal scorer Paduano landed the ping pong assist. 
 
The Cardinals sat in a great spot heading into period two.
 
At the sixth minute, the Cardinals gave up their first goal. The Cardinals were beaten on all facets of period two. The Cardinals were out shutout and lost a majority of their face off opportunities in their zone. 
 
This led to the second goal for the Foresters at the 13th minute mark of the second period to tie the game at an even two heading into period three. 
 
Saint Mary's looked to retain their lead, they came out of intermission with the idea to win. A minute into the period, sophomore Celia Midtbo earned her sixth goal of the season and the third of the game to snag the lead back from the Foresters. Midtbo recorded the goal on a power play opportunity with the assist from Sidney Polzin.
 
It became a back and forth game to end the third period thriller as the Foresters had their chance with a Cardinal in the penalty box. 
 
The Cardinals sealed the deal and landed a goal on an empty net to end the game. Heitzman tallied her second of the game and fifth of the season for the Cardinal victory!
 
The Cardinals will move onto the championship game tomorrow at 5 p.m. against the winner of host school Dubuque and Milwaukee School of Engineering who face off later tonight.