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2003-2004 Record: 9-7-0 MIAC / 13-8-2 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Sun., Feb. 15: Saint Mary's 4, Buffalo State (N.Y.) 0 Mon., Feb. 16: Saint Mary's 3, Buffalo State (N.Y.) 3 Fri., Feb. 20: Saint Mary's 5, St. Olaf 4 Sat., Feb. 21: St. Olaf 3, Saint Mary's 1 |
| Upcoming Games: Wed., Feb. 25: at Hamline, 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 28: Hamline, 2:05 p.m. |
| This and That: SMU is currently in fifth place in the MIAC standings, two points back of third-place St. Olaf and one behind fourth-place Augsburg. All three teams have locked up playoff berths, but the final order is still uncertain. If SMU sweeps its regular-season series vs. Hamline (0-16-0 MIAC and 7-0 losers to SMU in a nonconference game earlier this year), the Cardinals will finish 11-7-0 in MIAC play with 22 points. If St. Olaf drops two vs. Concordia in its regular-season finale, and Augsburg loses one of two vs. league-leading and unbeaten St. Thomas, SMU would finish third. An SMU sweep and splits by St. Olaf and Augsburg, and SMU would finish fourth and host Augsburg on March 4 in the first round of the playoffs. … SMU got goals from five different players in Friday's 5-4 win vs. St. Olaf. … With her one goal and two assists vs. the Oles, Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) pushed her team-leading totals to 19 goals, 18 assists and 37 points. The SMU senior is also closing in on a pair of career milestones — she is just four goals away from 100, while her 147 career points are seven shy of the school record. … SMU's loss to St. Olaf on Saturday snapped the Cardinals' five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1). |
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's hockey team took a giant step forward in their quest for a berth in the five-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs with their 5-4 win over St. Olaf last Friday evening.
Saturday afternoon at the SMU Ice Arena, the Cardinals took that same giant step — backwards — as St. Olaf turned the tables with a 3-1 victory.
Leaving the Cardinals right back where they started.
With two MIAC games remaining – vs. Hamline this week — the Cardinals are in fifth place, two points behind the Oles, who close out their season against Concordia, and one point behind Augsburg, which took three points off St. Benedict with a win and a tie last weekend and faces regular-season champion St. Thomas this weekend.
All three teams have locked up playoff berths, but the final order is still uncertain. If SMU sweeps its regular-season series vs. Hamline (0-16-0 MIAC and 7-0 losers to SMU in a nonconference game earlier this year), the Cardinals will finish 11-7-0 in MIAC play with 22 points. If St. Olaf drops two vs. Concordia in its regular-season finale, and Augsburg loses one of two vs. league-leading and unbeaten St. Thomas, SMU would finish third. An SMU sweep and splits by St. Olaf and Augsburg, and SMU would finish fourth and host Augsburg on March 2 in the first round of the playoffs.
"It's a little disappointing that we weren't able to come back on Saturday and play the way we did the night before," said SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk, whose team had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped with Saturday's loss. "We got ourselves in trouble by taking too many penalties. (St. Olaf's) powerplay ate us alive."
The Oles scored three powerplay goals on Friday night, then added two more on Saturday.
"We had stretches in both games where we completely dominated, but couldn't put the puck in the net," explained Ryhorchuk. "Then we'd take a penalty and they'd come down and score."
Which is exactly what happened on Saturday.
SMU controlled play in the first period, holding St. Olaf to just two shots through the first 15 minutes as the Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Emily Babcock (St. Paul, Minn.) eight minutes into the opening period.
Back-to-back penalties to SMU's Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) and Ashley Graf (So. St. Paul, Minn.), however, resulted in two St. Olaf powerplay goals and the Cardinals never recovered.
"We had all the momentum after Emily's goal, but those penalties just gave (St. Olaf) a chance to get back in the game," said Ryhorchuk. "Our job now is to get ready for this week (against Hamline) and try and pick up some momentum heading into the playoffs."