WINONA, Minn. — There have been plenty of memorable seasons during Dan Blank’s 21 years as the head coach of the Saint Mary’s University women’s soccer team.

Seven Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and seven NCAA national tournament berths conjure up fond memories for the Cardinals’ veteran head coach.

Last season, however, is not one of those.

Forget forgetting about the 2002 season, Blank would like nothing better than to wipe it completely out of his memory bank.

Two goals scored and one win will do that to a person.

And to make matters worse, neither of last year’s goal scorers is back this season, making Blank’s and the Cardinals’ job that much tougher.

“Last year was one of those years you never in your wildest dreams would imagine happening to you,” said Blank, whose team’s lone win was a 1-0 win over Benedictine on Sept. 15, while their only other goal of the season came in a 4-1 loss to St. Catherine on Oct. 12. “We didn’t get off on the right foot — losing our top three forwards before the season even began, and it just snowballed from there.”

Snowball? Try an avalanche.

Which is exactly where Blank would like the 2002 season to stay — buried under an avalanche.

“Last year is gone and forgotten,” he said. “We aren’t going to dwell on what happened (last season) because it doesn’t matter anymore. Our focus, from the time last season ended until now has been on this year — on finding ways to make this team better.”

Which, Blank feels, is exactly what they have done.

“We talked as a team following last year and we all agreed that we weren’t about to go through another year like that,” said Blank. “Our veterans had a great off-season — they lifted, they ran, they played on summer soccer teams — and they’ve come into this season hungry and determined.

“They want to do well, and they want to help bring this program back up to where it belongs — at the top of the conference.”

To get there, however, is going to take some time.

“This year, we aren’t about to get caught up in wins and losses,” warned Blank. “This year, we’re shooting for quality improvement, we’re building that foundation so that within a year or two, we are back competing for conference titles.”

The foremen of this building project will be senior captains Beth Zubrzycki (South St. Paul, Minn.) and Sara Goodnature (Rochester, Minn.). Both have been three-year starters for the Cardinals, and both will be key cogs in SMU’s defensive corps.

“Offensively, we still aren’t where we need to be — we are still a bit thin at the forward position,” admitted Blank, whose offense did get a much-needed jump start with the return of Kelli Mooney (Maple Grove, Minn.), who led the team with five goals and 11 points as a freshman in 2001, but transferred to UM-Duluth as a sophomore, before transferring back this season. “We’re going to have to move some people around a bit to try and give us a little more offensive punch.”

Blank returns both goalkeepers from last year, seniors Dianna Kyllo (Kasson, Minn. / 15 GP, 33 GA, 4.20 GAA, 115 saves, 1-10-0) and Emily Strom (Waterford, Wis. / 10 GP, 33 GA, 5.22 GAA, 84 saves), and the addition of freshman Nicole Bohn (Winona, Minn.) gives SMU a trio of capable netminders

“Our approach is most definitely going to be defense first,” said Blank. “We’ve got very good depth in goal and with our defenders. I’m confident we’ll hold our own defensively, it’s going to just be a matter of what we can create offensively.

“I think you are going to see a big difference in this team from Game 1 to Game 5 to Game 10,” Blank continued. “We’re a pretty young team, but we’re going to surprise some people.”