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SMU comes out on short end of another 1-goal decision vs. GAC
ST. PETER, Minn. — Sept. 13 — 3-2 vs. Hamline.
Sept. 16: 2-1 vs. Carleton.
Sept. 22: 3-2 in 2 OT vs. Macalester.
Sept. 27: 2-1 vs. Gustavus.
See the pattern?
Unfortunately, so does Saint Mary's University men's soccer coach Chris Dembiec.
Dembiec watched in disbelief as his Cardinals dropped their fourth straight game Tuesday afternoon — all four games by one goal — as Gustavus jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, then held off a late SMU rally in dropping the Cardinals 2-1 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.
"It's tough — four games, four one-goal losses," said Dembiec, whose Cardinals have not won since a 2-0 victory over Ripon on Sept. 10. "It's not that we are playing that poorly. In fact, we are playing pretty well — we just can't seem to catch a break when we need one.
"We finally put everything together against Macalester last Saturday — and an unlucky call cost us," continued Dembiec, referring to Saturday's 3-2 double-overtime loss to the Scots, in which Macalester was awarded a second-half penalty kick that erased SMU's 2-1 advantage. "This game was similar to our Carleton game (on Sept. 16) — we dug ourselves too deep a hole and just couldn't get ourselves out.
"We didn't play nearly as well today — we were a bit flat, but we were still in a position to pick up a win."
The Gusties got on the board first, as Dan Suchy headed in a pass from Ryan Beduhn 13 minutes into the opening half. Mike Butterworth pushed the Gustavus lead to 2-0 20 minutes into the second half, before SMU's Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.) made things interesting with his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
"We hung in there and battles from start to finish," said Dembiec, whose Cardinals (0-4-0 MIAC, 3-6-0 overall) return to action Saturday playing host to Concordia in a 2 p.m. conference game. "It's hard not to be frustrated, but we've got keep at it. We can't be satisfied with just being competitive — we've got to find a way to get over the hump.
"Hopefully, sooner or later, we'll catch a break and that will get us back on the right track."