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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Statistics
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2006 Records: 1-4-0 MIAC, 4-6-0 Overall |
| Recent Results: Gustavus 2, Saint Mary's 1 / Details Saint Mary's 2, Concordia 0 / Details |
| Upcoming Events: Sat., Oct. 7: St. Thomas at SMU, 1 p.m. |
| This and That: The Cardinals put an end to their four-game losing streak with Saturday's 2-0 victory over Concordia. … Last Tuesday's 2-1 loss to GAC was SMU's fourth straight one-goal loss. … Senior Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.) collected his team-leading eighth and ninth goals of the season last week. Schmitt’s nine goals are just one shy of the career-best 10 he netted a year ago. … Schmitt also leads the team in assists (4) and points (22) and has recorded at least one point in eight of the Cardinals’ 10 games. … Schmitt's 26 career goals rank him No. 2 — 10 behind SMU Hall of Famer Jerad Rasmussen. Schmitt is also ranked No. 3 all-time in career points with 60. … Schmitt leads the MIAC in points (9) and goals (5). … GK Jon Szafranski (Barrington, Ill.) posted his second shutout in four starts with a six-save effort vs. Concordia. … Szafranski and Ryan O’Connor (San Diego, Calif.) have combined to post a 1.77 goals-against-average and a .793 save percentage. The duo also rank No. 1 in the MIAC in saves per game (8.40 spg). … The Cardinals have gotten scoring from 14 different players. … The Cardinals have scored 26 goals in 10 games — seven more than SMU scored during its complete 16-game schedule of a year ago, and the most since SMU netted 27 in 2002. … SMU has scored two or more goals in seven of its 10 games. |
pair of streaks with 2-0 MIAC victory vs. Concordia
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Mike Schmitt
Team-leading 8th, 9th goals last week |
Check that, the streaks are over.
The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team put an end to not one, but two streaks last Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals collected a pair of first-half goals in cruising to a 2-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Concordia at Ochrymowycz Field.
Not only did SMU pick up its first win since a 2-0 triumph over Ripon on Sept. 10 — a span of four games — but they also halted a string of four straight one-goal losses.
And coach Chris Dembiec couldn't be happier.
"That was a huge relief," said Dembiec. "This team has been through so much heartache the last couple of weeks — to play as well as they have, and to come up on the short end of four straight one-goal losses is tough.
"We tinkered with a few different things (vs. Concordia), and for the most part, they worked out," continued Dembiec, whose Cardinals were dominating from start to finish, holding Concordia to just six shots on goal — and holding the Cobbers scoreless for their fourth straight game. "We played a high-pressure game and it really made it hard for (Concordia) to string together very many passes, and I think that was the difference."
The Cardinals got on the board 20 minutes into the first half as Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.) netted his team-leading ninth goal of the season — one shy of the career-high 10 goals he tallied a year ago. Andy Neu (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), who assisted on Schmitt's goal, added his second goal of the season eight minutes later as SMU raced to a 2-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
"We needed a game like this — a game in which our offense continued to put (goals) on the board like it has been, and our defense to shut down the other team," said Dembiec, whose team has scored at least two goals in seven of its 10 games — but only has four wins to show for it. "We put it all together at the same time — and got a favorable outcome to boot.
"Hopefully we can keep things going in a positive direction."