WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team, coming off a thrilling 1-0 victory over Augsburg on Wednesday, closes out its regular season — and says goodbye to its five graduating seniors — Saturday afternoon, playing host to St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. conference contest.
Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-6-1 MIAC / 9-7-1 Overall)
Last Action: The Cardinals got a second-half goal from Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) and a five-save effort by Mariana Sanchez (Puebla, Mexico) en route to a 1-0 MIAC victory over Augsburg Wednesday evening at Ochrymowycz Field. St. Thomas, meanwhile, dropped its second straight Tuesday, falling to seventh-ranked Concordia 3-2 in St. Paul, Minn.
Last Meeting — October 9, 2008: St. Thomas scored twice in a 70-second span late in the second half en route to a 2-0 MIAC win over SMU in St. Paul, Minn.
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Augsburg not only snapped SMU's two-game losing streak, but also guaranteed the Cardinals a winning season. … The Cardinals win over Augsburg also pushed their record to 6-1-1 on their home field. … Five of SMU's nine wins have been by one goal — including three decided by 1-0 decisions. … Today's game is the final collegiate game for SMU's five graduating seniors — Mariana Sancehz (Puebla, Mexico), Stephanie Marnocha (Appleton, Wis.), Keirra Metcalfe (Pickering, Ontario), Lauren Mazzuca (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Dana Winkler (Lake Geneva, Wis.). … Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) scored SMU's game-winner vs. Augsburg Wednesday. It was the junior's team-leading 14th goal of the season. Sibik's 14 goals this season, which are a single-season career high, give her 34 for her career and move her within three goals of Barb Bock for No. 6 all-time. … Sibik enters today's season finale with eight multiple-goal games — including recording her first three-goal and four-goal games this season. … Caitlyn Cole (Larson, Wis.) boasts a team-best seven assists. … Mariana Sanchez (Puebla, Mexico) stopped all five Augsburg shots Wednesday in recording her fifth shutout of the season. Sanchez now has 12 shutouts in her four-year collegiate career, tying her with Jennifer Johnson for fifth all-time in career shutouts. … Sanchez enters today's finale boasting a 1.05 goals-against-average and an .833 save percentage. … SMU has only allowed seven goals in the first half this season. … SMU's loss to UW-Platteville on Oct. 25 was just the third in the last 38 nonconference games (34-3-1). The Cardinals are now 34-6-2 in nonconference play since the start of the 2004 season. … SMU's double-OT game vs. Saint Benedict on Oct 24 was the third overtime game of the season for SMU, which also dropped a 2-1 OT decision to Macalester and settled for a 0-0 2 OT tie vs. Bethel. SMU is still looking for its first overtime win since a 1-0 win over St. Catherine on Sept. 13, 2007, going 0-3-3 in six OT games since then. … The Cardinals have only lost once in their last 50 games in which they have scored two or more goals, with that lone loss last year's 3-2 setback to Hamline.
St. Thomas Tommie Notes: Tuesday's loss to Concordia was the Tommies' second straight loss, with both setbacks decided by one goal — and both on their home field. … St. Thomas comes into today's game ranked No. 24 in the latest NSCAA Top 25. … Tuesday's loss dashed UST's hopes of defending their MIAC regular-season crown. … UST can lock up a home MIAC tournament game with a win today vs. SMU. … Erin Sprangers scored both of UST's goals vs. Concordia Tuesday. It was her fourth career two-goal game, and gave Sprangers 69 points in 69 career games (29 goals, 11 assists). … Sprangers enters today's game leading the team in goals (8) and points (19), while Kirsten Moran's six assists are a team high. … The Tommies have scored 17 of their 28 goals in the second half. … UST has played four overtime games — sandwiching OT wins around a 3-0 loss to Wartburg to open the season, while tying Carleton 0-0 and falling to Macalester 1-0.
