WINONA, Minn. — In their final home game of the season, Saint Mary's (9-13-2, 5-10-2) battled hard but fell 3–1 to No. 2-ranked Augsburg (20-3-1, 14-2-1). The Cardinals broke through with a third-period power-play goal but were unable to overcome the Auggies early lead.

Maggie Albers provided the highlight of the night, netting a power-play goal and finishing with two shots on goal. In net, Celeste Rimstad turned aside 36 of 38 shots in a strong performance between the pipes.

The opening period featured a balanced back-and-forth, with both teams trading faceoff wins and scoring chances. Reese Heitzman and Sophia Paduano generated quality looks for the Cardinals, but Augsburg showed why it holds the nation's No. 2 ranking. The Auggies scored unassisted at the 8:49 mark to give them a 1-0 edge. 

The Cardinals controlled the faceoff circle early in the second and continued to apply pressure, with Taryn Dornseif and Destinee Hoffmann each firing shots on goal. However, with 3:13 remaining in the period, Augsburg extended its lead to make it 2-0.

Saint Mary's responded in the third. Capitalizing on a power play at 4:48, Albers buried a shot off assists from Paduano and Meland to cut the deficit to 2-1 and inject energy into the team. The Cardinals pushed late, but an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining sealed the 3-1 decision.

Despite the result, the Cardinals closed out their home slate with resilience and intensity against one of the nation's top teams.

The team will get another shot at the Auggies in St. Paul for a 4:00 p.m. puck drop tomorrow.