Women's Hockey 1/23/04 -- St. Mary's 5, Augsburg 2

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MINNEAPOLIS (1/23/04) -- Emily Kearns (Sr., Hopkins, Minn.) had a hat trick and two assists for a five-point night, playing a part in all five goals in St. Mary's University's 5-2 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's hockey contest Friday nightat the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Kearns scored two goals in the first period, assisted on both Cardinal goals in the second period and notched her third goal of the game early in the third period, helping St. Mary's improve to 9-4-1 overall, 6-3-0 in MIAC play. St. Mary's broke a two-game losing streak in the process.

Meanwhile, Augsburg got a goal and assist from Lauren Chezick (Jr., Hastings, Minn.), but fell to 6-8-0 overall, 3-6-0 in the MIAC. Augsburg lost its third game in a row and seventh in its last nine games.

Kearns scored her first goal of the game on a steal for an unassisted, breakaway goal at the 3:45 mark of the first period. Ten minutes later, Kearns scored her second goal of the game, on feeds from Melissa Mondo (Fr., Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) and Jenny Hocum (Jr., Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS).

Augsburg cut the lead to one goal on a power-play tally from Stacy Anderson (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS), who completed a scoring play from Melynda Kleewein (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS) and Chezick. For Kleewein, it was her 49th career point (nine goals, 40 assists). Her assist total is the third-best in a career in school history, behind second-place 52 from Angie Rieger (1997-2001) and the school record, 56, held by teammate Chezick (2001-present).

Mondo scored twice for the Cardinals in a six-minute span midway through the second period -- the first on assists from Aja Walters (Jr., Fairmont, Minn.) and Kearns; the second on a 5-on-3 power play from Kearns and Beth Zubrzycki (Sr., South St. Paul, Minn.).

Kearns completed the hat trick with a goal from Kate Williams (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) at the 5:21 mark of the third period.

Chezick completed the scoring for Augsburg with a goal on a 2-on-1 break from Anderson at the 6:20 mark. The goal and assist give Chezick 96 career points (40 goals, 56 assists). Chezick could become the second Augsburg player to ever break the 100-point barrier (varsity opponents only); Rieger holds the school's career scoring record with 120 points (68 goals, 52 assists).

St. Mary's convered on 1-of-3 power plays, while Augsburg went just 1-of-6 on the player advantage. Augsburg has had just one goal in its last 12 power-play opportunities, spanning three games.

The teams complete the MIAC series on Saturday (1/24) at 2:05 p.m. at the SMU Ice Arena in Winona, Minn.