WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team dropped a 1-0 decision to Gustavus on Jan. 11, the Cardinals knew that they could not afford any more losses if they hoped to be one of the five teams invited to take part in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's post-season tournament.

Six games later, and the Cardinals are very much in the playoff picture — thanks to a 5-0-1 run that included impressive 3-1 and 3-0 victories over St. Benedict last weekend.

"Everyone played well all weekend," said Ryhorchuk. "We started out a bit slow on Saturday, but we really picked it up in the second period."

That's an understatement.

After managing just five shots on goal through a scoreless opening period on Friday, the Cardinals pelted the St. Ben's net with 20 second-period shots, connecting on three — the first by Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.), the second by Tennie McCabe (Rochester, Minn.) eight minutes later, and the third by Christy Hicks (Bloomington, Minn.) with less than three minutes remaining in the period.

And the Cardinals picked up right where they left off in Sunday's rematch.

Offensively, the Cardinals turned in a repeat performance Sunday, scoring three goals against the Blazers.

SMU goalie Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.), however, did herself one better.

After stopping 29 of the Blazers' 30 shots Saturday, the Cardinals' senior goalie stopped all 24 shots in Sunday's rematch as the Cardinals completed the sweep with a 3-0 victory.

"Missie played very well all weekend," praised Ryhorchuk of his two-time All-American netminder. "Defensively, we played a strong game (Sunday). And offensively, we created a couple of good scoring opportunities and made them count."

McCabe gave SMU all the scoring it would need, netting her second goal in as many days in the first period. Kearns and Tasa Kostel (Rochester, Minn.) tallied third-period goals, but with Meemken between the pipes, SMU's third-period tallies were hardly needed.

"It was good to see us continue to spread the scoring out," said Ryhorchuk. "Everyone on this team knows how important every game is from here on out.

"We've got two very tough series left," continued Ryhorchuk, whose team squares off against St. Olaf (tied for fifth in the MIAC) this weekend, and then faces league-leading St. Thomas to close out the regular season Feb. 21-22. "We're starting to play better, and I think we are peaking at the right time — but we've got to make sure we keep playing at that high level.

"We can't afford a letdown."

* THIS AND THAT: SMU goalie Missie Meemken (St. Cloud, Minn.) stopped 53 of the 54 shots she faced vs. St. Benedict. Her 24-save shutout on Sunday was her first of the season and 18th of her career. … Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) and Tennie McCabe (Rochester, Minn.) each scored two goals vs. the Blazers, with Kearns' two tallies giving her a team-leading 18 for the season. … Tasa Kostel (Rochester, Minn.) and Christy Hicks (Bloomington, Minn.) accounted for SMU's other two goals vs. St. Ben's. … SMU has been outscored 22-9 in the first period, but the Cardinals have outscored their opponents 15-12 in the second and 17-16 in the third.