WINONA, Minn. — Special teams proved to be not-so-special for the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team Wednesday evening in the Cardinals' season-opener against St. Scholastica.
 
The Saints scored a pair of third-period, power-play goals — breaking a 1-1 deadlock, and dealing the Cardinals a 3-1 nonconference setback at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
 
The Cardinals, playing for the first time since falling to Gustavus in the MIAC Tournament semifinals on Jan. 29, 2020 — a span of 350 days — got on the board first, as Avrey Simonson (Waupaca, Wis.) broke the scoreless deadlock four minutes into the second period.
 
That, however, would be the highlight of the Cardinals' offense, as CSS rattled off three unanswered goals en route to its third straight win to open the season.
 
The Saints' Rachel Anderson netted the equalizer at 13:56 of the middle frame, before Kayla Kasel and Taylor Murray each tallied power-play goals in the game's final 20 minutes to seal the win.
 
Ary Ziakas (Palatine, Ill.) finished with 13 saves in 30 minutes of work, while Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) recorded 20 saves in her 30 minutes of action.
 
The Cardinals (0-1 overall) are back in action on Saturday, traveling to the Moorhead Sports Center in Moorhead, Minn., for a 4 p.m. MIAC contest against Concordia.