WINONA, Minn. — Sooner or later, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team is going to put it all together.

Coach Duncan Ryhorchuk is hoping that day is sooner, rather than later.

After struggling to generate any offensive firepower in falling to Lake Forest 4-0 Saturday evening, the Cardinals "erupted" for a pair of second-period goals, only to have the Foresters rally for two goals of their own in the third period to forge a 2-2 nonconference tie Sunday afternoon at the SMU Ice Arena.

"It was nice to see us convert some of the offensive chances we got, but we still aren't capitalizing enough on all the chances we are creating," said Ryhorchuk, whose team has managed just 17 goals in its first 12 games. "I thought we played very well in the first two periods, but then we just kind of went into a shell in the third period and hoped to hang on."

And hang on the Cardinals did.

Tennie McCabe (Rochester, Minn.) and Alissa Schultz (LeSeuer, Minn.) scored on opposite ends of the second period — McCabe's came 1:28 into the period, while Schultz's came with 41 seconds remaining — to give the Cardinals what seemed like a commanding 2-0 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Foresters. however, had other ideas.

Nicki Paquette and Lil Caligiuri scored less than six minutes apart midway through the third period to pull Lake Forest even. And, were it not for a couple of big saves by SMU goalie Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.), the Foresters might just have pulled out the sweep.

"I was a little disappointed in our play in the third period," admitted Ryhorchuk, whose team fell to 3-6-3 overall — including 1-3-2 over its last six games. "Once we got the lead, we just sort of sat back — we didn't attack offensively like we did in the first two periods.

"I'm glad we were able to get a couple of goals, but we still haven't been able to put a complete game together."

And Ryhorchuk's patience is wearing a little thin.

"We have 13 games left — 12 of which are conference games — so we need to get our game clicking," said Ryhorchuk, whose team returns to conference play Friday at Gustavus. "We can't play up-and-down like we did (against Lake Forest). We need to be at our best for 60 minutes."

* THIS AND THAT: Tennie McCabe's (Rochester, Minn.) second-period goal Sunday snapped SMU's 118-minute scoring drought — dating back to Alissa Schultz's (LeSeuer, Minn.) goal at the 3:09 mark of the second period of the Cardinals' 1-1 tie with Concordia on Dec. 7. … Saturday's loss to Lake Forest was the fourth time this season that the Cardinals have been shut out. … Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) picked up an assist vs. Lake Forest on Sunday, pushing her team-leading point total to seven (six goals, 1 assist). … Goalie Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.) stopped 63 of the Foresters' 69 shots. … SMU has been outscored 14-2 in the first period. … After sweeping Hamline on Nov. 15-16, the Cardinals have gone 1-3-2 — and have been outscored 19-7. … Two of the Cardinals' three wins have come on their home ice. … SMU has been involved in three overtime games this season, and all three have ended in ties.