Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — After watching his Saint Mary's University men's soccer team battle Gustavus Tuesday afternoon, SMU head coach Eric Luzzi found himself at an emotional crossroads.

Luzzi felt good about his team's performance. His Cardinals created several golden scoring opportunities — hitting the crossbar on one, and having another knocked away on the goal line. And even got the first collegiate goal from freshman Tim Bollis (Milwaukee, Wis.).

But in the end, the Cardinals still came out on the short end of a 3-1 decision — and Luzzi didn't feel so good about that.

"I don't know whether to feel frustrated or encouraged," said Luzzi, whose team dropped its second straight in falling to 1-3-0 in the MIAC and 1-6-1 overall. "The effort today was unbelievable.

"For the second game in a row, the guys came out and played their hearts out," continued Luzzi, whose team dropped a 2-0 decision to Macalester last Saturday. "We created a ton of legitimate scoring chances today — but at the end of the day, we still gave up three bad goals. It's easy to feel good about the effort — just like I felt good about our performance (against Macalester) — but it's still two losses, and that's the bottom line."

The Gusties jumped on the Cardinals early, as Bobby Kroog netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season 15 minutes into the first half. Chris Pinahs made it 2-0 12 minutes later, and Alex Groth pushed the Gustie advantage to 3-0 with 11 minutes remaining in the half.

"When they scored that third goal, I was really worried about how our guys would respond," said Luzzi. "They could have easily thrown in the towel, but they didn't, they kept plugging away."

And the Cardinals' efforts paid off as Bollis took a cross from Jon Vik (St. Paul, Minn.) and beat Gustavus goalkeeper Tyler Garry three minutes before halftime.

"We had enough chances (in the second half), we just couldn't finish," said Luzzi. "(Gustavus) is one of the best teams in the MIAC for a reason — they are a very good team and they played well.

"We've just got to continue to work hard and keep at it," continued Luzzi. "The effort is there — I can't ask the guys to play any harder than they are — hopefully they be rewarded for that effort pretty soon."