WINONA, Minn. — Eric Luzzi and the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team were hoping their season-opening trip to Washington would be the perfect way to dive into the 2003 season.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there were no perfect 10s awarded for their performance. In fact, SMU's dive into the 2003 season turned out to be more of a belly-flop.

"We did not play well all," said Luzzi, whose team dropped a 3-1 decision to Pacific Lutheran, then were blanked by nationally ranked Puget Sound 6-0. "We were flat the whole weekend, and that's frustrating."

The Cardinals seemed to get their trip out west off on the right foot last Saturday, as Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) gave the Cardinals a 1-0 advantage just 17 minutes into the game.

That lead, however, was short-lived as Pacific Lutheran anwered six minutes later. The Lutes then added a pair of second-half goals to secure the 3-1 win.

Things just went from bad to worse for the Cardinals two days later against 21st-ranked Puget Sound, as the Loggers erupted for four first-half goals en route to a 6-0 victory.

The Loggers didn't waste any time showing the Cardinals how ungracious a host they planned on being, as Mike Gallegos beat SMU goalkeeper Bob Endemann (Woodridge, Ill.) with a one-timer from 12 yards out just 1:55 into the opening half.

Not only did Gallegos' goal give the Loggers a one-goal advantage, but it also opened the floodgates, as UPS scored three more times — including back-to-back goals six minutes apart right before halftime — to take a 4-0 advantage into the halftime intermission. Jeremy Denman and Koben Calhoun added unassisted goals in the second half as the Loggers converted on six of the 11 shots they put on goal.

"As far as I'm concerned, our season starts today, and when we face Loras (on Friday in the Cardinals' home-opener) our record will be 0-0," said Luzzi. "We're not going to dwell on those two losses, we have to look ahead and focus on (Loras) and the rest of the season)."