WINONA, Minn. — Change is inevitable in college athletics, and for the past 22 seasons, a new women’s soccer season would mean new faces blending with the old at Saint Mary’s University.

Yet amidst all the change during those first 22 years of the program’s existence, one thing remained constant — head coach Dan Blank.

This year, there will be a new face roaming the Cardinals’ sideline.

And with that new face, comes a new attitude, a new philosophy, and, Tony Guinn hopes, a new era in Cardinal women’s soccer.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to be a part of Saint Mary’s and the women’s soccer program,” said Guinn, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, who is among the top three winningest high school coaches in Wisconsin, having compiled a 273-86-19 record in 10 years as the head boys and girls soccer coach at St. Catherine High School in Racine, Wis. “Obviously, there is a great tradition in women's soccer at Saint Mary’s. This program has had a great deal of success in the past, and Coach Blank deserves a great deal of credit, he did a wonderful job.

“Hopefully, we can rebound from the struggles of the past two years and get this program back where it belongs — among the elite in the MIAC.”

Guinn, a three-sport athlete during his collegiate days — playing soccer, football and tennis at UW-Platteville — takes over an SMU team that went 3-14-1 a year ago and finished 10th in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings.

In fact, over the past two seasons, SMU has managed just four wins — and scored just 15 goals in 36 games.

That, Guinn promises, is going to change — and fast.

“Losing can be very contagious — I’ve never had that disease before, and I don’t plan on getting it at Saint Mary’s," said Guinn, who, while at St. Catherine H.S., won 10 conference titles and guided teams to four state championship games. “Winning can be contagious, too, and that’s the mentality I hope to instill.”

Fortunately for Guinn, the addition of 11 new faces — many of whom came from successful high school and club teams — will help in the process of instilling that mentality.

“We have a very talented freshman class,” said Guinn. “Most of them have come from very successful programs and come into this year knowing what it takes to win — they are the type who will say, ‘If winning isn’t important, why do you keep score?’ ”

Add to that a solid group of returners, who have welcomed the newcomers — coach and players — with open arms, and it’s no wonder Guinn is so excited about the upcoming season.

“The upperclassmen have done a phenomenal job of embracing all the newcomers, myself included,” said Guinn, whose team opens play Sept. 1 at Viterbo. “The (freshmen) were all recruited by me, so they pretty much knew what to expect when they got here. But the (returners), they weren’t sure what to expect, and, hopefully, they have been pleasantly surprised.”

Speaking of surprises, Guinn figures the rest of the conference is in for a big one when they take the field against the Cardinals.

“We’ve had a tough couple of years, but they are behind us,” he said. “My philosophy has always been to focus on performance — put emphasis on development – and the wins will take care of themselves.”

In fact, despite just three wins in the past two seasons, 11 new players among the 23-player roster, and a coach who has never coached at the collegiate level, Guinn has only one concern heading into the team’s season opener vs. the V-Hawks — making the MIAC post-season tournament.

“Our main focus is getting into that top four (in the conference), we want to be playing in the conference tournament,” said Guinn. “Is that realistic? It’s very realistic — we’re going to surprise a lot of people this season.”