Game Summary vs. St. Thomas / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — For the fifth straight game — and the 13th time this season — the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team was held to one goal or less Saturday afternoon against St. Thomas.

This time around, however, one goal was more than enough.

The Cardinals put an end to a 22-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference winless streak Saturday at Ochrymowycz Field, as Steve Boussie (Troy, Mich.) scored the game's only goal in the game's 60th minute to lift SMU to a 1-0 victory over the Tommies.

“That was just a phenomenal performance,” said SMU assistant coach Matt Perrigo, filling in for head coach Chris Dembiec, who had a family commitment. “These guys came out and put together by far their best performance of the season — it was just amazing to watch them out there.

“We've been saying all season that we are capable of playing with any team in the conference — it just took us a little longer than we'd hoped to prove it.”

The Tommies entered Saturday's game boasting a 6-1-1 conference record, while the Cardinals — losers of a season-high six straight — had yet to win in eight MIAC games (0-7-1).

It should have been a walk in the park for the Tommies.

SMU, however, had other ideas.

“It doesn't matter if we were  10 games out of first place, or battling for a conference title, this team was going to go out there and leave it all on the field,” said Perrigo. “This is a proud team that has worked very hard all season — today's win is their reward for all that work.”

After a scoreless first half, the Cardinals dodged a pair of Tommie bullets, as UST's Ben Dellaria and Henry Nidawula both hit the crossbar on back-to-back shots in the 55th minute.

SMU finally broke the deadlock, as Boussie broke behind the UST defenders to chase down a Bryan Neu (Hoffman Estates) free kick and, with a Tommie hanging on his back, beat UST goalkeeper Carlos Castelan with his third goal of the season.

And with Jon Szafranski (Barrington, Ill.) between the pipes, one goal was all SMU needed, as the SMU goalkeeper stopped all six UST shots en route to his second shut out of the season. The six saves also moved the junior keeper to within nine saves of SMU's single-season saves record of 152, set by Eric Luzzi in 1994.

“We came in with a game plan, and this group followed that plan to the letter,” said Perrigo. “It was just a great team effort — and a great team win.”