Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — It wasn't supposed to end like this.
But then, the entire season wasn't supposed to go quite the way it did for first-year head coach Eric Luzzi and the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team.
Despite playing what might have been their best game of the season, the Cardinals dropped their fifth straight game Saturday afternoon, losing to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Macalester 4-1 at Ochrymowycz Field.
"Macalester is a very good team, and you have to give them a lot of credit — they made it through the entire conference schedule without a loss, and that's not easy to do," said Luzzi. "But there's no way they are three goals better than us.
"They may be better, but not three goals better."
In fact, if the Cardinals could have gotten a break here or there, they could have easily found themselves two or three goals in front of the mighty Scots at halftime.
But then, breaks have been few and far between for SMU this season.
"I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but luck certainly hasn't been on our side this season," said Luzzi, whose team suffered through a pair of five-game losing streaks this season — streaks that accounted for 10 of SMU's 11 losses. "We've had so many games this season in which we've played great soccer, but didn't have the wins to show for it.
"And that's disappointing."
Especially for seniors Matt Peck (Eau Claire, Wis.), Michael Kroll (Cary, Ill.), Eric Brown (Cary, Ill.) and Ned Colleran (Chicago, Ill.), who played their final collegiate matches Saturday.
"Those (seniors) — as well as every other member of this team — worked so hard all season, and they deserved better than a 6-11-1 season," said Luzzi. "This whole week has been all about sending out the seniors in style — and for a litlte more than a half, I thought we were going to be able to give them the ultimate going-away present — a win over Macalester."
Problem is, the Scots — and high-scoring forward Kimani Williams — decided to rain on the Cardinals' parade.
Macalester's Brendan Viele opened the scoring at the 33:31 mark, but the Cardinals answered right back as Brown dished off a picture-perfect pass to Shawn Stewart (McHenry, Ill.), who tapped the ball past Scots' goalkeeper Michael Madigen for his eighth goal of the season.
The Cardinals had two more golden opportunities before the half ended, but point-blank shots by Jake Kmetz (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Brent Anderson (Maple Grove, Minn.) both missed the goal by inches and SMU was forced to settle for a 1-1 halftime tie.
In the second half, it was Williams who decided to crash the party as the Macalester senior sandwiched a pair of goals — giving him 10 in the last four games — around a goal by Eric Nordstrom to give the Scots a commanding three-goal advantage.
"This game was like taking our entire season and wrapping it into 90 minutes," said Luzzi. "We were right there, right with them, but we just couldn't catch a break, and when (Macalester) got a break, they made it count.
"It's a tough way to end the season," continued Luzzi. "But these guys have nothing to hang their heads about. They busted their butts and gave it everything they had every day of the season — and as a coach, that's all you can ask."
