Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — With just over two minutes elapsed in the opening half of Tuesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Olaf, Saint Mary's University women's soccer coach Tony Guinn should have figured that it wasn't going to be the Cardinals' day.

Courtney Gibson (Stillwater, Minn.) went up for a free ball against a St. Olaf defender, and was pushed into a teammate. Gibson suffered a deep gash over one eye and was rushed to the hospital.

And that was just a sign of things to come for Guinn and the Cardinals.

By the time the first half was over, the Guinn was without two other starters who went down with injuries — and was facing a 1-0 halftime deficit.

Bruised and battered, the Cardinals battled back, rallying from one-goal deficits twice, only to have St. Olaf's Kelsay Watt score her team-leading seventh goal of the season with just over a minute remaining in regulation to lift the Oles to a 3-2 win over SMU at Ochrymowycz Field.

"That's a tough loss — everyone played so hard. to lose in the last minute like that is tough," said Guinn, whose team has now dropped three straight in falling to 2-6-0 in the MIAC and 5-9-1 overall. "I was proud of the way we battled back in the second half, especially without three of our starters.

"We were handcuffed in that second half because of the way the officials were calling the game," continued Guinn, referring to SMU's three yellow cards — not to mention the an un-homefield-like 20-4 discrepancy in fouls. "I've never been in a game where one team commits only four fouls. It was a physical game — but it went both ways. It seemed like every time there was contact, we were called for the foul.

"Thirty-three percent of all deadball kicks result in goals, and when you are giving them that many opportunities, eventually, they are going to score."

St. Olaf didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard, as Kaia Knutson scored the first of her two goals just five minutes into the opening half as she corralled a rebound and beat SMU goalkeeper Jennifer Johnson (Racine, Wis.).

SMU bounced back early in the second half as Amy Cory (Crystal Lake, Ill.) took a pass from Ashley Kirkman (Stillwater, Minn.) and beat St. Olaf keeper Anna Feigum for her team-leading 13th goal of the season.

The two teams traded goals late in the second half, with SMU's coming off the foot of Kelli Mooney (Maple Grove, Minn.) with just 3:31 showing on the clock. The deadlock did not last long, however, as Watt broke free and scored on a breakaway two minutes later to ice the win.

"I don't know what to say — I'm disappointed for our players, because they worked so hard today," said Guinn, whose team returns to action Saturday, playing host to St. Benedict in their final home game of the season. "Hopefully we can bounce back."