Game Summary

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — With three games left in the regular season, the playoff picture appeared bright for the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team.

Especially after their back-to-back wins over previously unbeaten Augsburg and Hamline over the past week.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, St. Benedict decided to cast a dark cloud over their playoff hopes, getting a first-half goal from Patti Clintsman en route to a 1-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

"It was a tough game to lose," admitted SMU coach Tony Guinn, whose team dropped to 5-4-0 in the MIAC, and, more importantly remained at 10 points in the standings – two points behind Augsburg, St. Thomas and St. Benedict for third and fourth place with two games remaining. "We still have a shot, but this loss really hurts us.

"We've got to finish (the regular season) with two wins, and we're going to need some help."

SMU closes out its conference schedule with home games against Bethel (0-7-1) and St. Catherine (1-6-2). Two wins would give the Cardinals 14 points — and that's where the help needs to come in.

Because the Cardinals have lost to both St. Thomas (1-0 in double-overtime) and St. Benedict, SMU needs the Blazers and Tommies to lose both of their remaining MIAC games if they are to have a shot at making their first post-season appearance in more than 10 years. Augsburg still has games vs. St. Thomas (6-3-0) and Gustavus (1-6-1), but thanks to SMU's 1-0 win over the Auggies, two SMU wins and one Augsburg loss would eliminate the Auggies from the playoff hunt.

"We knew how important this game, and we also knew how tough it was going to be to beat (St. Benedict," said Guinn, whose team had its three-game winning streak snapped with the loss. "St. Ben's is a very strong team that plays excellent defense — just like us.

"It was one of those games where one goal was going to win it. We had one breakdown, and they scored on it — that was the difference."

Clintman netted the game's lone goal 12 minutes into the opening half, beating SMU goalkeeper Jennifer Johnson (Racine, Wis.) — ending Johnson's shutout string at 282:16.

"It's disappointing, but that's soccer — one mistake, one missed play can be the difference between a win and a loss," said Guinn. "We've still got hope (to make the MIAC tournament), but we've definitely got our work cut out for us."