Photos of SMU-St. Catherine game / click here

WINONA, Minn. — After scoring just one goal in their last game — and just 15 goals in their last 10 games — the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team was in dire need of an offensive explosion Friday evening.

They got it.

And, after allowing six goals in their last game — 35 in that same 10-game span — the Cardinals' defense needed to step things up, too.

They did.

Saint Mary's dominating on both ends of the ice Friday, as the Cardinals limited St. Catherine to 12 shots on goal — including just one shot on goal through the game's first 20 minutes — while erupting for 37 shots and three goals of their own en route to a 3-0 victory over St. Catherine at the SMU Ice Arena.

"We needed a game like this, a game in which we played solid in both the offensive and defensive zones," said SMU coach Terry Mannor, whose team won for the third time in their last four games — and scored three or more goals for just the fourth time this season. "We did a lot of things very well tonight — we passed the puck well, we used each other, we created good scoring opportunities, and then we capitalized on them."

Laura Mueller (St. Paul, Minn.) gave SMU all the offense it would net, as the senior netted her sixth of the season two minutes into the opening period. Amy Madden (East Grand Rapids, Mich.) made it 2-0 five minutes later, netting her seventh of the season and third in the Cardinals' last three games, while Angie Kryzer (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) closed out the scoring with her second of the season at 4:46 of the second period.

While her teammates were busy peppering St. Catherine goalie Jessie McGehee shots from all over the ice, the Cardinals' Amanda Gage (Lino Lakes, Minn.) quietly went about her business, stopping all 12 CSC shots in posting her first shutout of the season and the fifth of her career.

"The game got a bit tough to play towards the end of the second period and into the third, because it was so one-sided," said Mannor, whose Cardinals extended St. Catherine's winless to 17 (0-16-1) with the win "It's tough to play a game like this, but it also shows that we still don't have that killer instinct. We played well enough to win, but we didn't put them away the way we probably should have."