WINONA, Minn. — The similarities were astounding.

The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team entered last Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia with just one win in nine games (1-6-2). The Cobbers were also 1-6-2.

SMU had scored just seven goals in its first nine games — so had Concordia.

Both teams were winless in conference play, had lost four straight, and both were coming into Saturday's game on the heels of a 3-0 loss — SMU against Gustavus and Concordia against Macalester.

Wait, there's more.

The Cardinals' leading scorers, Patrick Tollaksen (Racine, Wis.) and Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.), had netted two goals. Constant Maninga and Matt Klein led the Cobbers with … what else, two goals.

Something had to give Saturday.

It did — finally.

After 82 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Cardinals finally got the ball to bounce their way as Brent Anderson's (Maple Grove, Minn.) shot bounced past Concordia goalkeeper Nik Pickett and into the net for the game's only goal as SMU snapped a four-game losing streak with the 1-0 victory.

"It's great to finally get that monkey off our backs — to finally get the ball to bounce our way, and to capitalize on it," said SMU coach Eric Luzzi, whose team had not scored a goal since Schmitt's tally late in the second half of SMU's 5-0 win over Rockford — a span of more than four games and 362 minutes. "These guys worked so hard out there. They played with so much energy, it was nice to see them get rewarded for those efforts."

Those efforts may have gone for naught were it not for the play of SMU goalkeeper Tyler Nelson (Racine, Wis.), who stopped all 12 shots he faced — including a pointblank save on a shot by Concordia's Joey Manley late in the first half.

"Tyler played well — everyone played well," said Luzzi. "(Concordia) came out and played with a lot of emotion, and our guys stepped up and met the challenge. It was a high-paced, hard-fought, physical game.

"I was proud of the way our guys performed."