By EMILY LOOF
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern

WINONA, Minn. — Friday evening at Ed Saugestad Arena, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's hockey team was the only team on the scoreboard through the first two periods of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Augsburg—only to have the Auggies erupt for three, third-period goals for the come-from-behind 3-1 win.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the tables were turned Saturday in the teams' rematch at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena, as the Auggies were the ones getting on the board first—and second, and third—as Augsburg took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and never looked back, handing the Cardinals a 3-0 conference setback.
 
The Cardinals could not get their offense on track early on against the Auggies, failing to land a single shot on Augsburg goaltender McKenna Manalli in the first frame—and settling for a combined 14 in the second and third periods.
 
"Take away that first period, and I thought we played pretty well," said Saint Mary's coach Greg Moore. "But we have to figure out a way to start creating more scoring opportunities—one goal over two games is not going to win you too many games."
 
The Auggies got on the board midway through the opening period, when Mackenzie Molnar beat Cardinal goalie Ashley Corcoran (Red Wing, Minn.) on a power play goal at 11:19. And the Auggies did not wait long to make it 2-0—16 seconds to be exact—getting a goal by Bridget Walter.
 
The Auggie lead increased to 3-0 in the second period, when Kayla Murray broke behind the Cardinal defense and beat Corcoran on a shorthanded breakaway at 16:57.
 
The Cardinals' best scoring chance came early in the third period, when Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) rang a shot off the crossbar.
 
Corcoran finished with 23 saves on 26 shots, while Manalli stopped all 14 Saint Mary's shots—seven in the second period and seven more in the third.
 
The Cardinals (1-3-0 MIAC, 3-3-0 overall) take a brief break for the Thanksgiving holiday, getting back to action next Saturday with a 7 p.m. nonconference matchup against UW-Eau Claire at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.