NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team picked up its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season Thursday evening.
 
And the Cardinals did so in impressive fashion.
 
Saint Mary's erupted for six goals—the highest single-game offensive output since scoring six on two separate occasions during the 2009-10 season—in cruising to a 6-3 conference win over St. Olaf at the Northfield Ice Arena.
 
"It was great to see our offense open things up a bit," said Saint Mary's coach Terry Mannor. "I think we can play better than we did tonight, but we did what we had to do—we'll take the (conference) points, especially on the road."
 
Anya Hafiz (Woodbury, Minn.) continued her torrid start to her first year in a Cardinal uniform, as the freshman scored two goals—giving her five goals and four assists through Saint Mary's first five games.
 
Hafiz got the Cardinals offense rolling late in the first period, scoring with just 54 second remaining in the opening stanza as Saint Mary's took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.
 
Natalie Kelly pulled the Oles even seven minutes into the second period, but the Cardinals answered, getting goals from Kassie Lien (Grantsburg, Wis.) and Jane Hannula (Coon Rapids, Minn.) less than a minute apart midway through the period, and a Bailey Wendt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) tally with four seconds left, to give Saint Mary's a three-goal cushion, 4-1, heading into the game's final 20 minutes.
 
St. Olaf sandwiched a pair of goals around Hafiz's second of the game to make it 5-3, but Natalie Ryan (Village of Lakewood, Ill.) iced the Saint Mary's win with an empty net goal at 19:07.
 
Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) picked up the win in goal for the Cardinals, stopping 25 St. Olaf shots—including all 10 in the first period—while a pair of Ole goalies made a combined 36 saves.
 
The Cardinals (1-1-1 MIAC, 3-1-1 Overall) and Oles conclude their two-game conference series on Saturday with a 2 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.