Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Through the first eight games of the season, the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team enjoyed more than its fair share of the thrill of victory.

Over the last four games, however, there hasn't been much thrill of victory — and there's been far too much agony of defeat.

And Saturday's game against St. Thomas proved to be the most agonizing of them all.

The Cardinals lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, as St. Thomas' Sarah Balgord scored in the second minute of the second overtime to lift the Tommies to a 1-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over SMU at Ochrymowycz Field.

"Losing in overtime is always tough," said SMU coach Tony Guinn, whose team was playing just its second home game of the season. "And to lose in overtime on your home field is even tougher. You want to play well in front of your home fans — and I think we did that today — it's just disappointing to lose in overtime like that."

The Tommies threatened to end the game with five minutes remaining in regulation, but SMU goalkeeper Jennifer Johnson (Racine, Wis.) came up with the biggest of her 14 saves on a point-blank shot by St. Thomas' Sarah Balgord, and Stephanie Paasch's rebound shot caromed off the cross bar to keep the game scoreless.

Neither team managed any offensive attacks in the first OT, and, just two minutes into the second extra session, Balgord ended things, taking a feed from Abagail Krause and beating Johnson with a shot into the left-hand corner.

After scoring 19 goals in opening their season with a perfect 8-0-0 record, the Cardinals' offense has gone into premature hibernation over the last two week,s as SMU has managed just two goals — both in a 2-0 win over Gustavus on Sept. 28 — in its last four games.

"You can't ask any more of our defense," said Guinn, whose team has allowed just seven goals in 12 games. "To keep a team like St. Thomas off the scoreboard for 101 minutes, what more can you ask?

"We're just struggling to get our offense back on track," continued Guinn, whose team was playing its first overtime game of the season, and its first first a 2-1, double-overtime loss to Carleton on Oct. 12, 2004. "We had some good opportunities to score today, we just weren't able to convert.

"We just weren't able to step up to the challenge offensive."