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Saturday, October 25, 2003 |
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(Through Friday, October 24) |
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The Cardinals scored seven goals in the second half en route to an 8-4 nonconference win over Simpson on Wednesday. … St. John's gave league-leading Macalester all it could handle as the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie on Wednesday. |
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St. John's scored three goals in a 16-minute span midway through the first half en route to a 3-1 win over the Cardinals on Oct. 26, 2002. |
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Today's game is the first home game for the Cardinals since Sept. 30. … The Cardinals' eight goals vs. Simpson on Wedndesday equalled thier offensive output for their first 13 games combined. … Michael Johnson (Woodbury, Minn.), who had not scored a goal in his first three seasons, has scored four in the last three weeks — including a hat trick vs. the Storm. … Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) scored his team-leading fifth goal vs. Simpson. … St. John's has played in three overtime games this season, with all three ending in ties. |
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Today's game is the final home game for SMU seniors (front row) John Brown, Michael Johnson, Mike Lardner, Jake Endemann, (back row) Mike Lackey, Jason Grinnell, Josh Simonson and Brayton Grinnell |
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team surrendered four goals in its nonconference game against Simpson Wednesday evening — the second-most goals allowed by the Cardinals this season.
Not that it really mattered.
After all, when your offense is in the process of scoring a season-high eight goals, it's a little easier to overlook four goals against.
SMU — fueled by a seven-goal second half — posted its third win in its last four games, beating the Storm 8-4.
“That was one of the stranger games I’ve been associated with,” admitted SMU coach Eric Luzzi, whose team scored as many goals vs. the Storm as they had in their first 13 games combined. “I knew our offense had the potential to be an explosive group, but eight goals? That’s amazing.”
Senior Michael Johnson (Woodbury, Minn.), who scored his first collegiate goal in SMU's 2-1 loss to Concordia on Oct. 4, can now add a hat trick to his resume, as he accounted for three of the Cardinals' eight goals — including back-to-back goals a minute apart early in the second half.
Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) pushed his team-leading goal total to five with two more vs. the Storm, while Michael Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.), John Vik (St. Paul, Minn.) and Andrew Dolan (Glenview, Ill.) accounted for the Cardinals' other three goals.
SMU, which managed just two shots on goal in the first half, trailed 2-1 after the game's first 45 minutes.
But that quickly changed.
Schmitt tied the game 2-2 with his second goal of the season 11 minutes into the second half — and then the floodgates opened, as Johnson and Reddish each scored twice and Vik once in a 16-minute span to give the Cardinals a commanding 7-2 advantage.
Dolan then sandwiched his first goal of the season between a pair of Simpson goals to round out the scoring.
“Hopefully we still have some goals left in us,” joked Luzzi, whose team returns home today against St. John’s, marking the first time since Sept. 30 — and the last time for the Cardinals’ eight seniors – that SMU is on its home turf. “(Against Simpson) we were an opportunistic team — the chances were there, and we capitalized. But when we take the field (today), what happened Wednesday won’t matter. We need to go out and duplicate that effort (against SJU).
“We still have a lot to play for, including making sure we send our seniors out on a high note,” continued Luzzi. “I don’t think anyone’s going to have any problems getting up for this game.”