MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — It’s been said that the toughest team to play against is a team that’s in the midst of a losing streak.

Duncan Ryhorchuk and the Saint Mary’s University women’s hockey team can certainly attest to that.

The Cardinals entered Friday’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Augsburg riding a two-game winning streak — while the host Auggies were in the midst of a season-opening five-game losing streak.

On paper, it should have been win No. 3 for the Cardinals — and an extension to the Auggies’ season-long losing ways.

On paper.

On the ice, however, was another story, as Augsburg scored twice in the first period and twice more in the second en route to a 4-0 victory over the Cardinals.

“We did not play well early, and that really hurt us,” said Ryhorchuk, whose team managed just six shots in the opening 20 minutes, and were staring at a 2-0 deficit when the first-period horn sounded. “We pretty much dominated the second and third periods, but it was the same old story — we put a lot of shots on net, but we couldn’t convert those shots into goals.”

The Cardinals did put a lot of shots on the Augsburg goal over the final two periods – 30 to be exact — but Auggie goalie Kristin Johnson was up to the task, turning aside everything the Cardinals threw at her en route to her first collegiate shutout.

Lauren Chezick and Carrie Velenchenko traded first-period goals to put the Auggies in control. Chezick opened the scoring at the 13:59 mark of the first period, and Velenchenko followed up with her first of the season three minutes later.

Chezick didn’t wait quite as long to net her second goal of the game, needing just 24 seconds of the second period to push Augsburg’s advantage to 3-0. Annie Annunziato closed out the scoring at 6:49 of the second period, scoring her team-leading sixth goal of the season.

“It’s frustrating, because the opportunities are there, we’re just not burying the puck,” said Ryhorchuk, whose team dropped to 2-4-1 overall — and has managed just one goal in its four losses. “You can’t outshoot a team 36-25 like we did (Friday) and not score any goals.

“We’ve got to find a way to put the puck in the net.”