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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Augsburg with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

The Cardinals were coming off a 4-0 victory over Beloit last Sunday — a win that extended SMU's nonconference winning streak to 23 straight games. Yet, despite the gaudy win streak, the Cardinals didn't feel like they were getting the respect they deserved.

The Auggies, meanwhile, floated into Winona on Cloud 9,  having just knocked off perennial conference and national power Macalester 1-0 on Wednesday — a win that snapped the Auggies' 35-game winless streak vs. the mighty Scots.

Thanks in part to the right foot of Bethany Kaufmann (Green Bay, Wis.), the Cardinals brought the Auggies back down to earth — and made a statement that was heard loud and clear — as SMU knocked off Augsburg 1-0 at Ochrymowycz Field.

"This was a huge win for us," said SMU coach Chris Dembiec. "Augsburg is a very good team — one of the top three in the conference — and they were coming off an excellent win over Macalester, so we knew we were going to have our hands full.

"But we also knew, that if we played up to our abilities, we were every bit as good as (Augsburg) — we just had to go out and prove it."

And prove it they did.

After a scoreless first half, the Cardinals turned up the heat over the game's final 45 minutes, holding an 8-2 advantage in shot on goal — including the most important shot of the game, Kaufmann's game-winner with less than 11 minutes remaining in regulation. Kaufmann took a feed from Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) and beat Augsburg goalkeeper Maggie DeGroot with a perfectly placed shot.

"We certainly had our share of chances, we just couldn't quite put the ball in the net until Bethany came through for us," said Dembiec of his junior, who netted her third goal of the season. "I think more than anything, we wore (Augsburg) down. They seemed to tire a bit towards the end of the first half, and we took advantage of that (in the second half).

"I think we made a pretty good statement today," added Dembiec, whose team moved to 3-3-0 in the MIAC, while Augsburg dropped to 4-2.0. "We've heard the talk about how we dominate in nonconference, but can't get it done in conference play. Today, we proved all the critics wrong — we can get it done in conference play."