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Tuesday, January 6, 2004 |
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(Through Tuesday, January 5) |
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The Cardinals’ winning streak climbed to six as SMU headed into the Christmas break with a 7-0 win vs. Hamline on Dec. 10. … |
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Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) stopped all 19 shots she faced and Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) scored the game’s lone goal as SMU topped UW-EC 1-0 on Nov. 15, 2003. |
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The Cardinals enter tonight's game having won six straight, and are unbeaten in their last seven (6-0-1), dating back to a season-opening 3-2 loss to Lake Forest. … Emily Babcock (St. Paul, Minn.) scored two goals vs. Hamline last Wednesday, while Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) chipped in a goal and two assists. … Lauren Boardman (Lake Villa, Ill.) and Shannon Calvert (Pekin, Ill.) each picked up their first collegiate points vs. the Pipers. … Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) stopped all 13 shots she faced vs. Hamline to earn her first collegiate shutout — and her first collegiate victory. … The Cardinals' current six-game winning streak is their longest since SMU won 10 games late in the 2001-2002 season. … Kearns' goal vs. Hamline gives the SMU senior at least one goal in three straight game. She has also scored in five of the Cardinals' last six games, and has recorded a point in seven of their eight. … SMU has outscored its opponents 29-8 and have scored first in eight of its nine games. |
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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Duncan Ryhorchuk videotapes every game his team plays, then uses the tapes as instructional tools throughout the season.
Their last game before Christmas break against Hamline, however, is one tape the Cardinals' coach might want to erase.
“It wasn't very pretty,” Ryhorchuk said. “We didn't play well at all, especially in the first and second periods I'm sure it was a combination of things — upcoming finals, the opponent, lack of mental focus.
"It just wasn't one of our better games."
That coming from a coach whose team just won its fifth straight with a lopsided, 7-0 win over the Pipers at the SMU Ice Arena.
"It's nice that we won, but it wasn't the type of effort we need," explained Ryhorchuk, whose team dominated the Pipers from start to finish. "We played much better in the third period, but those first two periods — those are periods I'd like to forget.
"(Hamline) was only skating 12 players, and we eventually wore them down in the third," said Ryhorchuk, whose team scored five goals in a seven-minute span in the third period in improving to 6-1-1 overall. "It was nice to see us rebound a bit in the third — hopefully we can carry that through the break and play with that type of intensity the rest of the way."
Beth Zubrzycki (South St. Paul, Minn.) got SMU on the board late in the first period, netting her first of the season at the 18:22 mark. Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) made it 2-0 after two with her fifth of the season midway through the second period.
"We didn't need to say anything between periods," Ryhorchuk said. "The players knew they weren't playing well, and they also knew that only they could change that."
Which is exactly what they did over the final 20 minutes.
Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) got things going at the 10:01 mark of the third period, netting her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Megan Chown (Onalaska, Minn.) made it 4-0 three minutes later. Emily Babcock (St. Paul, Minn.) sandwiched a pair of goals around one by teammate Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) to close out the scoring.
Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) stopped all 13 Piper shots to earn her first collegiate shutout, while Hamline goalie Alysha Huberty finished with 27 saves.
“It was nice to go into the break with a win,” said Ryhorchuk, whose team enters tonight’s nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire with riding a six-game winning streak — but the Cardinals haven’t played a game since that shellacking of Hamline nearly 30 days ago. “It’s been a long time between games — hopefully we can come back from the holidays and pick up right where we left off.”