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2003-2004 Record: 5-1-0 MIAC / 8-2-1 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Tues., Jan. 6: Saint Mary's 5 UW-Eau Claire 2 Fri., Jan. 9: Saint Mary's 5, St. Benedict 2 Sat., Jan. 10: St. Benedict 2, Saint Mary's 1 |
| Upcoming Games: Fri., Jan. 16: at St. Thomas, 7:05 p.m. Sat., Jan. 17: St. Thomas, 2:05 p.m. |
| This and That: Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) and Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) each scored two goals in SMU's 5-2 win over CSB on Friday, while Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) scored a goal in both Friday's win and Saturday's 2-1 loss. … Kearns was held without a goal Saturday, snapping her five-game goal-scoring streak. She did pick up an assist on Mondo's goal, however, extending her point streak to six games. … Saturday's loss snapped SMU's eight-game winning streak and nine-game unbeaten string. … Kearns leads the Cardinals in all three offensive categories — goals (10), assists (10) and points (20). … SMU goalkeepers Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) have combined to post a 1.26 goals-against-average and a .942 save percentage. … SMU has outshot its opponents 336-243. … Eight of SMU's goals against have come in the second period. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 17-4 in the first period and 12-2 in the third. |
WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Duncan Ryhorchuk will be the first to admit that he can't see into the future.
He may not admit to being a psychic, but when he said after last Friday night's 5-2 win over St. Benedict that his team needed to play more consistently, he wasn't kidding.
In fact his exact words were: "We can't afford to have 20-minute letdowns every game. The teams we play (in the MIAC) are too tough to let us get away with that."
Last Saturday afternoon, St. Benedict turned Ryhorchuk's warning into reality.
Despite holding a 43-17 advantage in shots on goal, a lackluster second period proved to be the Cardinals' undoing, as St. Benedict scored the eventual game-winner three minutes into the period en route to a 2-1 victory over SMU at the SMU Ice Arena.
"It was one of those games that, statistically, we should have won," said Ryhorchuk, whose team had its eight-game winning streak snapped with the loss. "We outshot them in every period, we controlled the play for long stretches — we just didn't finish around the net the way we need to.
"We played a great first and third period," continued Ryhorchuk, whose team outshot St. Ben's 16-7 through the game's first 20 minutes, then tacked on 16 more shots in the third period, while CSB was held to three. "But we struggled a bit in the second — again, we just couldn't maintain that high level from the first period to the second."
Inconsistency or not, Ryhorchuk knows that with a 43-17 advantage in shots, one goal is far from satisfactory.
"We created so many good scoring chances, Ryhorchuk said. "We just didn't have that killer instinct to get the job done."
The Cardinals got on the board first when Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) tallied her eighth of the season — only to have CSB answer back five minutes later to tie the score at 1-1.
Susan Engel then netted the game-winner three minutes into the second, taking a pass from Sarah Horlitz and beating SMU goalie Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) with her team-leading eighth goal of the season.
"After the way we played last night, I think a lot of people figures this game was going to be another walk in the park," said Ryhorchuk. who got a pair of goals from Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) and Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) in Friday's 5-2 win. "There are no walks in the park — and, hopefully, everyone learned that lesson today. If we are going to be successful, we need to play with more consistency, and when we create the offensive opportunities, we need to capitalize on them."