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2004-05 Record: 7-8-3 MIAC / 11-13-3 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 3, Augsburg 1 / Details Gustavus 5, Saint Mary's 1 / Details |
| This and That: The Cardinals had their winless streak vs. Gustavus extended to eight (0-7-1) with last Thursday's 5-1 MIAC playoff loss. … SMU has lost its last six to the Gusties by a combined score of 23-2. … SMU’s last win over Gustavus came in the championship game of the 2001-2002 MIAC playoffs, when the Cardinals’ Emily Kearns scored a rebound goal with 4:55 remaining in regulation to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory. Gustavus then turned the tables on the Cardinals in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, beating SMU 2-0. … Gustavus now boasts a 13-5-1 all-time record vs. SMU. … SMU finished the season 0-12-2 in games in which it scored less than two goals. … The Cardinals improved to 3-1 in postseason play vs. Augsburg with their 3-1 victory over the Auggies in Minneapolis, Minn., in the opening round of the MIAC playoffs last Tuesday. … It was the third straight time SMU and Augsburg have met in postseason play. … Jenn Shire (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) recorded her first career two-goal game last Tuesday vs. the Auggies, helping the Cardinals overcome a 1-0 first-period deficit with back-to-back goals 10 minutes apart in the second period. … Madeline Loftus (Parsippany, N.J.) also scored for the Cardinals vs. Augsburg. … … Jenny Hocum (Rochester, Minn.) accounted for SMU's lone goal vs. Gustavus. … Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) finished with 34 saves vs. the Auggies — including 18 in the third period — and 33 vs. Gustavus. … Thanks to their three-goal performances vs. the Cobbers in their regular-season finale and the Auggies last Tuesday, SMU improved to 11-0-1 in games in which they score two or more goals. … Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) ended the season as the team's offensive leader in both goals (9) and points (15). … Shire and Rachel Harrison (Racine, Wis.) share the team lead in assists with eight. … . … Jung, who finished the season with a 2.31 goals-against-average and a .928 save percentage, was named the Cardinals’ lone representative to the MIAC all-conference team, after posting a 2.42 goals-against-average and a .921 save percentage in SMU's 18 conference games. … Mondo was an honorable-mention All-MIAC selection. |
vs. Gusties that they created in opening win vs. Augsburg
WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, wins against Gustavus have been few and far between of late.
Heading into last Thursday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference semifinal playoff game, the Cardinals were winless in their last seven games (0-6-1) vs. the Gusties — a string that dates back to a 2-1 victory in the championship game of the 2002 conference playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, as few as the wins have been, the goals have been even fewer.
SMU arrived in St. Peter, Minn., Thursday having scored just four goals in those previous seven meetings. Take away a 3-3 tie during the 2002-2003 season, and the Cardinals are down to one goal in the last six games vs. GAC.
To make matters worse, SMU had been shut out in each of the teams last three games.
The Cardinals finally put an end to that scoreless drought, getting a second-period goal from Jenny Hocum (Rochester, Minn.) on Thursday, but SMU did not have enough in the tank to put an end to that seven-game winless streak as Gustavus scored two goals in both the second and third periods to eliminate Saint Mary's from postseason play with a 5-1 victory.
"It's a tough way to end the season — Gustavus is a very good team and they proved that again (Thursday)," said SMU coach Duncan Ryhorhuk. ""We just couldn't generate much offense, and against a team like (Gustavus), you have to make the most of the chances you get.
"We weren't able to do that."
The Gusties outshot the Cardinals 16-5 in the first period of play and held a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. Two-time MIAC Most Valuable Player Andrea Peterson opened up the scoring for Gustavus with an unassisted goal at 9:28 of the first period. Peterson's wrist shot found the upper left corner of the goal to light the lamp for Gustavus.
Gustavus increased its lead to three with two goals from Becky Steiner in the first two minutes of the second period. Margaret Dorer passed the puck to Kelly Crandall and she fired a shot on net. Steiner would redirect the puck into the open net with just 1:22 off the clock. Forty-one seconds later, Steiner would add another goal to give Gustavus a 3-0 lead. SMU would cut the Gustie lead to two with a power play goal from Hocum at 11:51 of the second period.
The Gusties added two more goals in the game's final 20 minutes, as Kelly Crandall netted a power play goal at 13:16 to make the score 4-1 and Peterson added her fourth point of the night a minute later. rifling a slap shot over the right shoulder of SMU goalie Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) to make the final 5-1.
Gustie goaltender Kara Meyer turned away ten shots to record her eleventh win of the season. Jung made 33 saves and suffered the loss in the nets for Saint Mary's (11-13-3).
"It's always hard to have the season end, but this group has a lot of be proud of," said Ryhorchuk. "Their performance (last Tuesday) against Augsburg (in SMU's 3-1 MIAC playoff-opening win) was outstanding — by far the best game we've played all season.
"And that's what you want, you want to be playing your best when it matters most. We didn't play poorly (against Gustavus) — they just played better. They were the better team this time around."