THE MATCHUP

Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas vs. Saturday, Oct. 16, 2004 Ochrymowycz Field 1 p.m.

GAMEDAY PLAYER PROFILE

Stan Schoenecker Year Freshman Position Midfield Hometown Stillwater, MN

For the official GameDay Program for today's game pdf / click here (pdf)

WINONA, Minn. — If Eric Luzzi were looking for a way to sum up the way this year's Saint Mary's University men's soccer season has gone, Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Carleton would cover it quite nicely.

After all, the dark clouds that were parked above Ochrymowycz Field Wednesday were about the same color as the ones that have seemed to follow Luzzi and the Cardinals around all season.

And, just when it appeared like a ray of sunshine might finally break through — in the form of a goal (just the Cardinals' second goal in their last seven games) — the clouds opened up and rained on SMU's parade.

Literally, and figuratively.

Literally in that the game was played in a steady drizzle, and figuratively in that Carleton’s Yemi Adegunju’s header with less than four minutes remaining in the second overtime gave the Knights a 2-1 victory.

"What can I say? It's tough to lose a game like that — a game we played well enough to win," said Luzzi. "But that pretty much sums up the way our season has gone."

Carleton netted the lone goal of the first half, off the foot of Will Camisa, but SMU bounced back, getting the equalizer on a goal by Brian Reddish (Crystal Lake, Ill.) midway through the second half.

"I wasn't overly impressed with the way we played in the first half — I thought we were flat, and Carleton had the upper hand," said Luzzi. "But I thought we had the upper hand in the second half and the overtimes."

In fact, the Cardinals nearly ended the game in the first half, but the shot by SMU's Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.) slipped just outside the left post late in the first OT.

"I thought it was in — I thought we finally got a break and capitalized on it," said Luzzi of Schmitt's shot. "We were that close.

"It's disappointing to lose like that, but I was happy with the effort — especially in the second half and the overtimes," continued Luzzi, whose team doesn't have much time to dwell on the double-overtime loss, as they get ready to host St. Thomas this afternoon. "That's more like we are capable of playing."