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2004-05 Record: 2-4-0 MIAC / 4-6-0 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: St. Thomas 6, Saint Mary's 1 / Details St. Thomas 7, Saint Mary's 0 / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Fri., Jan. 7: Saint Mary's at Eau Claire, 7:05 p.m. |
| This and That: SMU's 7-0 loss to UST on Saturday marked the second trme this season that the Cardinals had been shut out. … The 7-0 loss was also the most lopsided since UW-Stevens Point handed the Cardinals a 7-0 defeat on Nov. 3, 2002. … Jenny Hocum (Rochester, Minn.) accounted for SMU's lone goal vs the Tommies. … Jenn Shire (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) assisted on Hocum's goal Friday, giving her a team-leading five assists this season. … St. Thomas' 13 goals in the two-game series are the most given up by the Cardinals in the program's history. … Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) leads the team in goals (5) and points (8), despite only playing in three games due to an ankle injury. … The Cardinals have scored 13 goals in their four wins, but they have been outscored 23-4 in their six losses. |
WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, the first two-and-a-half weeks of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season have followed a familiar pattern — lose on Friday, win on Saturday.
After watching his team struggle to a 6-1 loss at St. Thomas last Friday, SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk was hoping that pattern continued.
"The first game (of a two-game series) is always important – we just haven't found a way to get off on the right foot in any of our (conference) series," said Ryhorchuk, whose team dropped Game 1 vs. St. Catherine (2-1) and St. Benedict (3-1), but managed to win the rematches (3-1 vs. the Wildcats and 4-2 vs. the Blazers). "Hopefully we can keep the pattern going (at home in the teams' second game Saturday."
They didn't — not by a long shot.
With leading scorer Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.), who has only played in three games — but has amassed 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists) in those three games — still off the ice due to an ankle injury, the Cardinals couldn't match UST's offesnive firepower in Saturday's rematch.
"St. Thomas is a very good team — they proved that Friday night — and we needed to play our best (on Saturday) in order to win," said Ryhorchuk, whose team managed just seven shots on goal in the 7-0 loss — their most lopsided setback since a 7-0 loss to UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 3, 2002. "Unfortunately for us, once they scored a couple goals, we started to crumble — as soon as we fell behind, we lacked any sort of confidence."
SMU was barely able to keep the puck on its offensive side of the ice on Saturday, as UST dominated play, attempting 62 shots — 37 of which reached the Cardinals' net — compared to just seven shots on goal for the Cardinals.
The Tommies jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead, added another goal in the second, then put the game out of reach with three more in the third as UST handed the Cardinals their second shutout loss of the season.
"The (Christmas) break comes at a good time for us," said Ryhorchuk, whose team does not play against until Jan. 7, when the Cardinals travel to UW-Eau Claire for a nonconference game. "We've got a number of people who are banged up a bit, and this break will allow everyone a chance to rest and recover."
And, Ryhorchuk hopes, refill their offensive tanks.