WINONA, Minn. — Last Saturday afternoon at the SMU Ice Arena, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team put together one of its best performances of the season, as the Cardinals blanked UW-Eau Claire 3-0, snapping a two-game losing streak.

In a season that has seen its share of ups and downs, it was an effort that allowed SMU coach Duncan Ryhorchuk to go to sleep with a smile on his face.

Twenty-four hors later, however, the Cardinals' effort against UW-River Falls will be giving Ryhorchuk nightmares.

UW-River Falls scored 19 seconds into the first period and never let up, erupting for eight goals en route to an 8-1 nonconference win over the Cardinals.

Lou Paulson kicked off the Falcons' offensive show, beating SMU goalie Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) before most of the 114 in attendance had even found their seats. Kelly Hurley and Lou Paulsen would also score in the game's first period — with Paulsen's coming with just three seconds remaining — as UW-RF headed into the locker room with a 3-0 first-period advantage.

Both teams traded second-period goals — SMU's coming off the stick of Madeline Loftus (Parsippany, N.J.) — but the Falcons any hopes the Cardinals may have had of mounting a third-period comeback, as UW-RF scored four times in the final 20 minutes in handing SMU's its worst defeat since a 9-0 loss to Gustavus on Dec. 13, 1998.

Gage finished the game with 39 saves as UW-RF held a commanding 43-23 edge in shots on goal.

In Saturday's game against UW-Eau Claire — a rematch of the Jan. 7 meeting in which UWEC posted a 4-0 victory — the Blugolds were again dominating, outshooting SMU 31-12, including 17-3 in the first period.

This time around, however, the Cardinals took advantage of the scoring opportunities they did create, scoring once in the second period and adding two powerplay goals in the third to beat UW-EC, 3-0, and earn a split in their two-game series.

Val Rodriguez (Woodbury, Minn.) and Madeline Loftus (Parsippany, N.J.) each scored their first goals as Cardinals — Rodriguez's an unassisted tally in the second period and Loftus' 13 minutes into the third period on the powerplay — as SMU snapped its two-game losing streak and improved to 7-9-0 overall.

Aja Walters (Fairmont, Minn.) closed out the scoring for SMU, netting her fourth of the season with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

While SMU's sharpshooters hitting the bullseye on the offensive end, Cardinal goalie Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) was doing her best imitation of a brick wall on the other end, stopping all 31 shots she faced for her third shutout of the season.