Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — When Todd Stachura (Suamico, Wis.) scored his first collegiate goal 56 seconds into the first half Wednesday afternoon, the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team was off and running.

And when Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.) netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season to give SMU a 2-1 advantage heading into halftime, it was full steam ahead.

Then came the second half, and the Cardinals' high-flying offense couldn't get out of neutral.

Hamline scored back-to-back goals nine minutes apart early in the second half, as the Pipers rallied from that 2-1 deficit to beat the Cardinals 3-2 in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at Ochrymowycz Field.

"We let that one slip away from us, no question about that," said SMU coach Chris Dembiec. "In terms of our game plan, I thought we did a pretty good job of carrying it out, we just weren't able to stop their individual talent.

"We had a couple of defensive letdowns (in the second half), and in the end, that was the difference."

Stachura wasted little time getting SMU on the scoreboard, netting an unassisted goal before the game was even a minute old. The Pipers, however, responded with their first tally three minutes later to even the score at 1-1.

Schmitt pushed SMU back out front with 13 minutes remaining in the first half, but that was as far as the Cardinals' offense would go. Hamline, on the other hand, was just getting warmed up, as Jacob Helling and Elvi Gacaj both beat SMU goalkeeper Ryan O'Connor (San Diego, Calif.) in the game's final 45 minutes.

"It's disappointing to lose a game like that, but there certainly were some positives to take away from this game," said Dembiec, whose Cardinals (0-1-0 MIAC, 3-3-0 overall) return to action Saturday, playing host to Carleton in a 1 p.m. conference game. "In our last couple of games, we played well for about one-third of the game, but today, I thought we played well for about two-thirds.

"We continue to improve, and that's good to see."