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Game Summary / GameDay Online

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's soccer coach Chris Dembiec calls Bridgette Baggio (Glenview, Ill.) his quiet leader.

Yet, while the Cardinal senior may not be the most vocal player on the field, she is certainly being heard loud and clear.

Just ask Northland … .

Or St. Catherine … .

Or St. Olaf … .

Or Friday's opponent, Hamline.

Baggio scored twice against the Pipers — giving the Cardinals' "Silent Assassin" seven goals of SMU's last three games — as Saint Mary's rebounded from a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to St. Olaf last Saturday with a convincing 4-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Ochrymowycz Field.

"It was good for us to have the week off," said Dembiec, who watched Baggio net her first collegiate hat trick in a 10-0 rout of Northland, then follow that up with the OT game-winner vs. St. Catherine, SMU's lone goal in Saturday's loss to St. Olaf, and two more against the Pipers.  "We were able to tinker with a new system that we implemented on the fly in the second half (against St. Olaf), and the extra time to work on it really seemed to pay off today."

Thanks in large part to the feet of Baggio.

Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) got the Cardinals on the board with less than five minutes remaining in the opening half, and Baggio took over from there, scoring her team-leading seventh and eighth goals four minutes apart early in the second half to push SMU's advantage to 3-0. Sibik then closed out the scoring at the 76-minute mark, scoring her second of the game and sixth of the season.

"Bridgette is one of those forwards who is just so tough to defend," said Dembiec. "She's all over the field, she's always active — making early runs, taking defenders on one-on-one … .

"She's our quiet leader," Dembiec added. "She comes to the field ready to play every single day, you are never going to see her  give anything less than 100 percent. She definitely leads by example."

And what an example it's been thus far.