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WINONA, Minn. — Goals came in all shapes and sizes Friday evening at the SMU Ice Arena.

Unfortunately for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team, most of them also came off the sticks of UW-Superior players.

The Yellowjackets lived up to their No. 10 ranking in the latest USCHO.com poll, scoring the game's first three goals — one shorthanded, one on the powerplay and one at even strength — en route to a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals.

"That is a very good team," SMU coach Terry Mannor said of UW-Superior, which improved to 3-0-0 on the year. "They have a number of very skilled players, and they really took it to us."

Two of those players — Erin Kegley and Ashley Jenkins — proved to be the biggest thorns in the Cardinals' side, as the Yellowjacket duo each scored a goal and added a pair of assists..

"You have to tip your hat to (Superior), they played very well," said Mannor. "But I'm also extremely proud of my team. The continued to work hard right to the end — they never gave up, they never let down. They could have easily packed it in when (Superior) went up 3-0 in the third period, but they didn't."

Kegley got the Yellowjackets on the board four minutes into the second period, intercepting an SMU pass and beating SMU goalie Nikki Jung with a hard wrist shot.

Stacy Anderson made it 2-0 10 minutes later on the powerplay as she walked out from behind the SMU net untouched and rifled a shot into the upper right-hand corner.

After Jenkins pushed the lead to 3-0 at 15:26 of the third period, the Cardinals finally got on the board as Jill Rhody (St. Paul, Minn.) netted her first collegiate goal, a powerplay tally off assists from Madeline Loftus (Parsippany, N.J.) and Val Rodriguez (Woodbury, Minn.).

"UW-Superior is a team we shouldn't beat right now," admitted Mannor, whose team faces the Yellowjackets again Saturday afternoon in the second game of the teams' two-game nonconference season. "But it's also the type of team we will beat if we continue to put forth the type of effort we did tonight."