WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's soccer coach Eric Luzzi was a bit concerned heading into last Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia — and it had nothing to do with the fact that the Cardinals were coming off a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to No. 8-ranked Gustavus.

It had everything to do with the fact that Concordia entered Saturday's game winless in three conference games.

And while the Cobbers proved Luzzi's concerns to be valid — "they are a very good team," Luzzi would say afterwards — the Cardinals proved their coach's worries to be nothing more than a bad case of pregame jitters as SMU scored the game's only goal 33 minutes into the first half en route to a 1-0 victory.

"I wasn't quite sure what to expect from our guys after what happened last Wednesday, and the fact that Concordia was coming in here without a conference win," admitted Luzzi. "I was a little concerned we might be flat, or we might be a little overconfident."

They were neither.

The Cardinals dominated played in the first half, attempting 12 shots, six of which hit the net, while Concordia managed just three — all of which SMU goalie Bob Endemann (Woodridge, Ill.) handled with ease.

SMU finally broke through at the 33:07 mark as Mike Boland (Lake Zurich, Ill.) took a feed from Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and beat Concordia goalie Kris Overby for his team-leading ninth goal of the game.

"That was a big win for us," said Luzzi, whose team will have a week to prepare for its next game, a nonconference contest against UW-Oshkosh on Sunday. "Any win in the conference is a big win, but we needed an outstanding effort to beat these guys. Concordia is a much better team than their 0-4 (MIAC) record.

"This game was pretty typical of the way we've been playing lately — get on the board first and then keep the pressure on," Luzzi continued. "Maybe it's a sign that we are growing up a little, but early in the season, we'd score first and we'd always seem to relax and let our opponent take the game away from us.

"We haven't been doing that – we grabbed control of the momentum with Michael's goal, and we never gave it back."

* THIS AND THAT: The Cardinals have never lost to Concordia on their home field dating back to 1987, improving to 6-0-1 with Saturday's win. … Mike Boland (Lake Zurich, Ill.) netted his team-leading ninth goal — and third game-winner — vs. the Cobbers. … Boland, who also leads the team with 19 points — has scored nine of SMU's 15 goals this season. … All four of Brian Reddish's (Crystal Lake, Ill.) assists have come on Boland goals. … Goalkeeper Bob Endemann (Woodridge, Ill.) has played every minute of SMU's 10 games, posting a 1.60 goals-against-average. His three-save effort vs. the Cobbers earned him his third shutout of the season. … All three of SMU's conference wins have come at home. … In their four wins, SMU has scored 11 goals, while in their four losses, the Cardinals have netted just three goals.