Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's soccer coach Eric Luzzi did not need to say a word following Saturday's MIAC game against St. Thomas — the smile on his face said it all.
The Cardinals scored once in each half and goalie Bob Endemann (Woodridge, Ill.) stopped all four shots he faced as SMU pushed its conference unbeaten streak to three (2-0-1) with a 2-0 victory over the Tommies at Ochrymowycz Field.
"Finally, we had a game where everyone came out and played the way they are capable of playing — individually, players took care of their responsibilities, and that was the key," said Luzzi, whose team moved to 3-3-2 overall with the win. "Everyone around the conference has been saying that the conference champion was going to be either Gustavus, St. John's or St. Thomas.
"More than anything, I think this game proved that we can play with anyone in the conference when we come out and play our game," Luzzi continued. "This was a huge win for us."
How huge?
Consider that St. Thomas entered Saturday's contest with a 3-1-2 record — and had outscored its first six opponents 11-1.
"We knew coming in that St. Thomas was a very, very good team," said Luzzi. "But you know what? We're a very good team, too – especially when we play the way we did today."
And therein has been the Cardinals' problem all season — playing at a high level consistently.
"We've been so up and down all season. We just haven't been consistent," understated Luzzi, whose has scored 10 goals in its three wins, but has given up 11 in its three losses. "I really hope this game proves we're over that."
The Cardinals were consistently good against the Tommies, getting a first-half goal from Mike Lardner (St. Joseph, Mich.) late in the first half, then iced the win on Mike Boland's (Lake Zurich, Ill.) team-high eighth goal of the season with less than five minutes remaining.
"Everyone played well today — and that's nice to see," Luzzi said. "But the key is going to be how we respond to this win. We can't afford to come out Wednesday (at Gustavus) and not put forth the kind of effort we did today. We proved how good we can be when we are all on the same page — now we have to continue to play that way."
