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Game Summary vs. Saint John's / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team, scoring goals has been a problem — the Cardinals entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Saint John's averaging less than a goal a game.

Scoring goals against Saint John's, has been an even bigger problem — SMU had been shut out in each of its last three meetings with the Johnnies.

And beating the Johnnies has been the biggest problem of all — the Cardinals were winless in their last 12 games against SJU, dating back to a 1-0 SMU win on Oct. 16, 1999.

Steve Boussie (Troy, Mich.) took care of SMU's first two problems with his penalty kick goal in the game's 70th minute.

 Unfortunately for the Cardinals and coach Chris Dembiec, it's that third problem that SMU didn't have a solution to, as SJU erupted for three first-half goals — all off the foot of Levi Lowell in a six-minute span — and never looked back in rolling to a 5-1 conference win at Ochrymowycz Field.

“We're just making way too many mistakes,” said Dembiec, whose team dropped its season-high sixth straight. “We are not playing very well defensively right now, and that worries me. You can't keep giving up three, four, five goals a game and expect to win.”

Lowell put on a scoring clinic in the first half, beating SMU goalkeeper Jon Szafranski (Barrington, Ill.) with a shot in the 13th minute, followed that up with his second a minute later, and completed the hat trick with goal No. 3 in the 19th minute.

Kellen Groves pushed the Johnnies' lead to 4-0 14 minutes into the second half, before Boussie got the Cardinals on the board with his second of the season. SJU's Jake Archbold closed out the scoring with his first goal of the year in the 76th minute.

“It's tough,” said Dembiec, whose team has been outscored 26-5 during its six-game slide. “We've shown flashes of some pretty good soccer, but our last two games have been struggles.

“We've got to find a way to get this thing back on the right track — and fast.”