WINONA, Minn. — They hadn't played since Dec. 11, when the Cardinals dropped a 7-0 decision to St. Thomas, and Saint Mary's University women's hockey coach Duncan Ryhorchuk was hoping the new year would bring some new-found offensive punch.

It may have been a new year, but, unfortunately for Ryhorchuk, it was the same old Cardinals last Friday, as UW-Eau Claire handed SMU its second straight shutout loss, scoring two goals in each of the first two periods en route to a 4-0 nonconference victory.

"We did not come out ready to play," said Ryhorchuk. "Physically, I think we were ready, but mentally, we weren't. We did not have that spark we needed right away."

The Cardinals, who have scored just one goal in their last three games — and just 17 goals in their first 11 games — managed only 15 shots on goal vs. the Blugolds in falling for the fourth time in five games.

UW-Eau Claire got all the offense it would need in the first period, as Crystal Wasem and Amberg Stevenson scored less than a minute apart in the game's first two minutes to give the Blugolds a 2-0 advantage.

"Giving up those two goals early in the first period really hurt," said Ryhorchuk. "We were flat to begin with, and then to fall behind 2-0 before the game is even three minutes old, that's tough."

The Blugolds almost repeated their first-period outburst in the second as Amanda Schultz and Laura Brackey scored in the opening six minutes to give UW-EC a commanding 4-0 advantage.

"After they scored those two goals early in the first period, I thought we did a nice job of getting back into the flow of the game and created some good scoring chances of our own," said Ryhorchuk. "But then we came out and gave up two more goals in the first six minutes of the second period, that just took all the momentum away.

"Obviously we've got to find a way to score some goals," Ryhorchuk continued. "We're creating good chances, but we're not finishing — we have to start capitalizing on the chances we are getting, it's as simple as that."