Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — Eric Luzzi has been coaching the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team for the past five seasons, and he'll be the first to admit that soccer is a crazy game.
The ends don't always justify the means.
And the scoresheet doesn't always justify the final score.
Case in point, Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Olaf.
The Oles dominated play statistically — attempting 21 shots to the Cardinals' nine — but when the final horn sounded, it was the Cardinals who were on the winning end of a 2-0 decision.
"It's a weird game," Luzzi said with a smile. "In our last five games, we've played very well against Macalester, Gustavus and St. Thomas — and lost all three — and then we had what I'd call off days against Concordia and St. Olaf — and we won both.
"It makes no sense, but I'm not about to try and figure it out – in a conference like ours, you'll take a win any way you can get it."
For the Cardinals, the recipe for wins has become pretty simple — get the ball to Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.).
Schmitt, who scored for the second of SMU's two goals 14 minutes into the second half, has scored at least once in each of the last three games — and has now scored a goal in each of the Cardinals' three wins, as well as the lone goal in their season-opening 1-1 tie vs. Simpson.
"Mike's pretty hot right now, but we are also getting scoring from other people, which is also important because teams are starting to mark Mike pretty tight," said Luzzi, who watched Jon Vik (St. Paul, Minn.) net his second of the year — and what proved to be the eventual game-winner — with less than seven minutes remaining in the opening half. "Offensively, we didn't create a ton of great opportunities, but we made good on the ones we did have.
"I've been on the other end of a lot of these games — games in which we've dominated on the field, only to have the ball bounce against us," said Luzzi, whose team moved to 3-4-0 in the MIAC and 3-7-0 overall heading into Saturday's home contest against Augsburg. "I guess maybe it was time for us to catch a break."
