The HU women's hockey team broke open a tight game with four unanswered second period goals and went on to defeat St. Mary's 7-1 in Winona Saturday. Leah Schwartzman  scored twice for the Pipers, who stretched their school record unbeaten streak to 17 games in a row. 

Hamline ranked No. 5 in the country, is 19-1-3 overall. They are 13-1-2 in MIAC play and remain two points out of first place. The team they are chasing -- St. Thomas -- is their opponent in next weekend's regular season finale of games. 

SMU grabbed an early lead and held for most of the first period. Molly Garin's goal with 10 seconds left in the session sent the game to the locker room tied at 1 -- even though Hamline held a 16-3 edge in shots on goal.

Siobhan Claugherty untied it 2:16 into the second period. Madison Gaffney, who had helped set up Claugherty's goal made it 3-1 two minutes later. Schwartzman, who has been on a tear lately, then struck twice to up her season output to 15 for the season. 

Olivia Arkell, who had a goal in Friday's 6-1 win over SMU at TRIA Rink, and Madison Kolbow tallied in the third frame to wrap up the scoring. 

McKenna Hulslander recorded six saves in goal to earn the win. HU fired 38 shots on goal.

So ti comes to this: the Pipers and Tommies meet on Friday, February 15 at St. Thomas Ice Arena (7:30 p.m.) and on Saturday, February 16 at TRIA at 2:00 p.m. Both teams are guaranteed to host MIAC first round playoff games on Saturday, February 23. For HU to earn the top seed -- and their first ever regular season  MIAC championship -- they will need to garner three points on the weekend.