WINONA, Minn. – After a win and a tie against St. Olaf last weekend, the College of Saint Benedict hockey team was looking to build on that momentum as it heads toward a four-week break, but Saint Mary's had other ideas.
 
CSB held the Cardinals scoreless for 49 minutes of play, but three quick goals from SMU in the first 11 minutes of the game proved to be enough as Saint Benedict fell 3-0 in the first of the two-game series in Winona Friday night. The win marked the first conference victory of the year for Saint Mary's.
 
Saint Mary's (3-4, 1-4) scored its first goal of the game at the 1:29 mark of the first period. The Cardinals added goals at the 4:37 mark and the 11:01 mark of the period, but that was the last time they found the back of the net. Kailee Medved finished with 30 saves, including 11 in the second period and eight more in the third, to give her team a chance.
 
After SMU's second goal, CSB had five straight shots on net – two from Rylan Bistodeau and one each from Bria Ferns, Zoe Culshaw-Klein and Maria Wallace – but Saint Mary's goalie Ashley Corcoran saved all five. The team added a pair of shots early in the second and three more midway through the period, but none found the back of the net.
 
Saint Benedict finished with 22 shots on net to the Cardinals' 33. Bistodeau led the team with four shots on net and Courtney Conlin added three. CSB won 30 of 48 face offs and had four penalites to the Cardinals' two.
 
CSB and Saint Mary's are back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday in Winona. The game marks the last of 2018 for CSB, which is off until Jan. 4.