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| 2004 Record: 1-4-0 MIAC, 2-7-2 Overall |
| Coming Up: Wed., Oct. 13: Carleton at Saint Mary's, 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 16: St. Thomas at Saint Mary's, 1 p.m. |
| This and That: The Cardinals' 1-0 loss to Bethel last Saturday marked the eighth time this season that SMU has been shut out. … SMU has scored goals in just three of its 11 games - 5-0 and 1-0 wins and a 2-2 tie. … The 2-2 tie vs. Edgewood is the only time this season both SMU and its opponent have scored in the same game. … Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.), who shares the team's lead in goals (2) with Brent Anderson (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Patrick Tollaksen (Racine, Wis.), is also the team-leader in points (5). … Goalkeeper Tyler Nelson (Racine, Wis.) gave up his first goal of the season vs. Bethel and boasts a 0.49 GAA and a .950 save percentage. … SMU closes out a season-high four-game home stand this week with games vs. Carleton (Wednesday) and St. Thomas (Saturday). |
WINONA, Minn. - The search continues.
For the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team, consistency - or lack thereof - has been the name of the game.
And SMU head coach Eric Luzzi is dumbfounded as to why.
"I wish I could explain it, but I can't. I don't understand how we can play so well one time - have a great week of training - and then come out and play so poorly," said Luzzi after watching his team suffer its seventh shutout loss of the season last Saturday, falling to Bethel 1-0 at Ochrymowycz Field. "I'm just dumbfounded.
"We talked in our pregame meeting about the importance of playing at a high level, about how this team has battled back from a tough start (to the season) and has put together some very good halves of soccer, and then we come just flat (against Bethel)."
The Royals scored the game's only goal 18 minutes into the first half, as Abe Voyen took a feed from Ryan McKellips and beat SMU goalkeeper Tyler Nelson (Racine, Wis.).
"We just didn't play with any energy. After they scored their goal, we never played with a sense of urgency to get that goal back, and, as a coach, that was frustrating to see," said Luzzi, whose team fell to 1-4-0 in the MIAC and 2-7-2 overall with the loss. "Our conference is so tight - there are so many teams with two or three losses - you can't afford to have an off day.
"Winning in this conference is all about which team comes to the field mentally and physically ready to play - which team is going to step their game up to the next level in order to come away with a win," Luzzi added. "We didn't do that today."