NORTHFIELD, Minn. — According to Saint Mary's University men's soccer coach Chris Dembiec, it took his Cardinals roughly 20 minutes to shake off the affects of the two-hour bus ride from Winona to Northfield.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, in those 20 minutes, Carleton had pumped into 3-0 goals — and SMU never was able to recover, as the Knights added two more goals in the second half en route to a 5-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon.
“The slow start killed us,” said Dembiec, whose team fell to 0-2-0 in the MIAC and 2-3-0 overall with the loss. “I don't know what it was, but we just didn't come out ready to go — and against a team like (Carleton), you can't afford to sleep-walk through the game's first 20 minutes, because they'll make you pay for it.”
And pay the Cardinals did, as Carleton's Wes Elfman, Tim Wills and Brett Adelman all found the back of the net in the game's opening 20 minutes. Wills and Adelman would also score seven minutes apart early in the second half as the Knights cruised to their second conference win in three tries.
SMU goalkeeper Jon Szafranski (Barrington, Ill.) finished with five saves, including the initial shot on there of Carleton's five goals, only to have Elfman and Wills (twice) score on the rebounds.
“I thought we played pretty well after that first 20 minutes — we provided some good offensive attacks, which relieved some of the pressure off our defenders — it's just tough to try and bounce back when you put yourself in a 3-0 hole like that,” said Dembiec, whose team steps out of conference play on Tuesday, traveling to Fond du Lac, Wis., for a 7 p.m. contest against Marian. “Hopefully the guys learned the importance of being ready from the start of the game to the very end.”
