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Saturday, February 28, 2004 |
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(Through Friiday, February 27) |
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SMU got two goals and an assist from Emily Babcock (St. Paul, Minn.) and a goal and two asssts from Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) and Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) in last Wednesday's 8-0 win over Hamline. |
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With at least two games to play, SMU senior Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) — who scored once and assisted on two others vs. Hamline Wednesday – is just three goals shy of 100 for her career and just three points away from tying the career mark for points. … Kearns is also just nine points away from her single-season record of 50 points. … SMU has qualified for post-season play in each of the last five years. … SMU is now 5-1-1 in its last five games. … Hamline, meanwhile, has not won an MIAC game this season, and has been outscored 120-7 in those 16 games. |
vs. 
WINONA, Minn. — If the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team was looking past Hamline and ahead to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs, they certainly didn't show it Wednesday night.
End of the Road: Senior Night honors SMU's 6 graduating seniors
SMU got a pair of goals and an assist from Emily Babcock (St. Paul, Minn.) and a goal and two assists from both Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.) and Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.), as the Cardinals cruised to an 8-0 victory over Hamline.
And SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk expects the same type of effort when the Cardinals close out their regular season this afternoon against the Pipers.
“We want to head into (the post season) with a lot of momentum,” Ryhorchuk said. “We can’t afford to look past this game.”
The Cardinals have already clinched an MIAC playoff berth, but must wait until after today’s final MIAC games to see where they will be seeded. St. Thomas and Gustavus have already locked up the top two spots, while St. Olaf, SMU and Augsburg are still jockeying for the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions. The Cardinals can lock down the No. 4 spot — and home ice for the opening round of the playoffs — with a win today. However, a win and a second straight loss by St. Olaf to Concordia, and SMU would move up to No. 3 and travel to either St. Thomas or Gustavus on Thursday.
“All we can do right now is control what we can control — and that’s how we play (today) against Hamline,” said Ryhorchuk. “Hopefully we’ll come out ready to play.”
The Cardinals were certainly ready to play on Wednesday, as they outshot Hamline 52-13, helping Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) pick up her third career shutout with the 13-save effort.
SMU, which has now outscored the Pipers 15-0 in the teams' first two of three games this season, wasted little time flexing its muscles, scoring twice in the game's opening two minutes. Ashley Graf (South St. Paul, Minn.) opened the scoring 57 seconds into the first period and Kearns made it 2-0 less than a minute later.
Rachel Harrison (Madison, Wis.) and Babcock chipped in second-period goals, before SMU erupted for four goals in the game's final 20 minutes to ice the win. Mondo, Megan Chown (Onalaska, Wis.), Babcock and Jenny Hocum (Rochester, Minn.) all beat Hamline goalie Rachael Young in the third period as SMU pushed its conference record to 10-7-0 and its overall mark to 14-8-2.