Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Everything came so easy for the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team through the first two games of the season.

The last two games, on the other hand, have been rather difficult.

The Cardinals dug themselves a 3-0 hole they could not dig out of in suffering their first loss of the season, a 3-0 nonconference decision to Loras last Tuesday, then found themselves staring at a 2-0 second-half deficit Friday evening in their home opener against Carthage.

And while second-half goals by Mike Schmitt (Woodridge, Ill.) and Joey Manley (Racine, Wis.) certainly did a lot of jump-start the Cardinals' offense, it wasn't quite enough to get them over the hump, as SMU dropped its second straight game, a 3-2 decision to the Red Men at Ochrymowycz Field.

"It was like a replay of Tuesday's game," said SMU coach Chris Dembiec. "We hung back again through the game's first 30 minutes and just let (Carthage) walk all over us). Then, in the second half, we decided to step our game up a notch — we just dug ourselves too deep a hole."

The Cardinals failed to register a shot on goal through the game's first 45 minutes, yet still trailed just 1-0. Doug Fitzgerald pushed that Red Men lead to 2-0 with the first of his two goals seven minutes into the second half, before Schmitt decided to make things interesting, netting his fifth goal of the season nine minutes later.

Fitzgerald helped Carthage regain its two goal advantage with his second of the game — and of the season — with 26 minutes remaining in regulation, but the Cardinals weren't finished, as Schmitt set up Manley for his first goal of the year to get SMU back within on, 3-2.

That, however, was as close as the Cardinals would get, as Carthage held on for its first win of the season.

"It's a tough loss in that we really wanted to come out and play well in front of our home fans," said Dembiec, whose team is back in action Sunday, playing host to Ripon in another nonconference battle. "I thought we played very well — for 45 minutes. We've got to figure out a way to start the game as strong as we finished it."