WINONA, Minn. — With his team's hopes of a conference title dashed by its recent two-game losing streak, Eric Luzzi all but guaranteed that his Saint Mary's University men's soccer team would not lose a third straight game Saturday afternoon against Bethel.

Can Luzzi see into the future? Not a chance. Did he have a vision in his sleep? Not quite.

Luzzi's confidence could be summed up by four simple words — Tim Clemans (Cary, Ill.) and Shawn Stewart (McHenry, Ill.).

"There’s no doubt in my mind that this team will come out ready to play,” Luzzi promised before the game. “This is a tight-knit group and I know that each and every one of them is going to give nothing short of their best to make sure our two seniors end their home careers on a high note.”

Which is exactly what they did.

Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) scored a pair of goals before the game was even two minutes old as the Cardinals snapped their two-game losing streak — and gave Clemans and Stewart the kind of sendoff they deserved — with a 2-1 win over Bethel in an MIAC match.

"We played with a lot of emotion, a lot of heart," said Luzzi. "It was a very emotional game on both sides — we were playing our last home game, and Bethel was playing its last game of the season, so it was a pretty intense game."

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Reddish put the Cardinals up early — and often.

Reddish opened the scoring before most of the fans in attendance could even find a seat, as he beat Bethel goalie Eric Berg with a shot just eight seconds into the first half.

And the freshman forward wasn't finished. Less than a minute later, Reddish was at it again, scoring an unassisted goal to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage.

"We were fired up from the start, and it showed," said Luzzi. "After that first two minutes, it was a pretty even game. Both teams had their share of chances."

Bethel finally got a shot past SMU goalie Bob Endemann (Woodridge, Ill.) on a goal by Tim Pellitten at the 66th-minute mark, but it was too little, too late as SMU improved to 4-3-1 in the MIAC and 7-7-2 overall.

"I wouldn't say that we played a great game, but we played good enough and we found a way to win — which is the exact opposite of (last) Tuesday," said Luzzi, noting that his Cardinals played one of their better games against Hamline last Tuesday, only to lose 2-1 in overtime. "We're looking at the rest of this season as a learning experience, a stepping stone toward where we eventually want this program to be.

"Games like Hamline and Bethel are just a few more of the lessons that need to be learned."

* THIS AND THAT: Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) scored all three of SMU's goals last week — one in the Cardinals' 2-1 overtime loss to Hamline and two in SMU's 2-1 win over Bethel — pushing his season total to five, second to Mike Boland's (Lake Zurich, Ill.) team-leading 10. … Reddish also leads the team with six assists. … SMU's win over Bethel snapped a two-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' 2-1 loss to Hamline last Tuesday was their fourth overtime game this season — and SMU has yet to win one (0-2-2). … Eighteen of SMU's 25 goals have come in the first half.