Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team had plenty of good scoring opportunities in the first half of Tuesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Gustavus.

But the Cardinals passed them up in hopes that better opportunities would come their way.

They didn't.

Gustavus also had plenty of good scoring opportunities, and with each acrobatic save that SMU goalkeeper Bob Endemann (Woodridge, Ill.) made to thwart the scoring chance, the Gusties just figured they would make good on the next one that came along.

They didn't.

Through 90 minutes of regulation and two, 10-minute overtimes, the Cardinals and Gusties traded punches, but neither team could deliver the knockout blow as they settled for a 0-0 tie at Ochrymowycz Field.

"That was an exciting soccer game, I have to admit that," said SMU coach Eric Luzzi, whose team has now gone 1-0-1 since opening the season with seven losses. "But what's frustrating is all the opportunities we passed up — especially in the first half. We'd take one too many dribbles, or we'd try to be one last defender, and each time, we'd lose the ball or not get a good shot off.

"I'm not sure why we do that, because we certainly don't work on that in practice," continued Luzzi, whose team moved to 1-2-1 in the MIAC and 1-7-1 overall. "When a (scoring) chance presents itself, we've got to pull the trigger."

The Gusties pulled the trigger on three separate occasions, but each time Endemann was there to help the Cardinals dodge the bullet.

The Gusties' Caleb Bousu fired the first round, but Endemann got a hand on the shot, and it caromed off the left goal post 15 minutes into the first half. Bousu rifled another laser of a shot with less than 12 minutes remaining in the second half, but Endemann dove to his right to knock it away. And, with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Bousu had yet another point-blank chance, but Endemann was up to the challenge yet again.

"Bob played a great game," praised Luzzi of his senior goalkeeper, who finished with nine saves. "But our defense shouldn't be putting him in those types of situations, either. We had some (defensive) breakdowns, and it almost cost us."

Almost.

"The effort was there today — there isn't one person who played who didn't give 110 percent effort," Luzzi said. "But as far as execution, there are still some players are there who aren't playing as well as they can play — and that's got to change."