WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team took the field for the fifth time in the last eight days Tuesday evening.
As if that wasn't enough, the weary Cardinals had to square off against Gustavus — the team conference coaches picked to win the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title.
On paper, it appeared to be a mismatch.
On the field, it was anything but.
One hundred and 10 minutes after the opening kick, you would have been hard-pressed to point out which team was tabbed as the conference favorite, and which was picked to finis in the conference basement.
The Cardinals got a first-half goal from Steve Boussie (Troy Mich.) and held the high-powered Gusties to a second-half tally, as SMU battled GAC to a hard-earned 1-1 double-overtime tie.
“There are good ties, and there are bad ties — this was definitely one of the good ones,” said SMU coach Chris Dembiec. “To take a point off a team like that — the team that coaches picked to win the conference title — that's fantastic.
“This was by far one of the better games I've seen this team play — especially in the first half,” Dembiec added. “We had to hang on a bit in the second half, but part of that was due to the fatigue from playing so many games in such a short amount of time.
“Give this team credit — they played an outstanding game.”
Boussie got the Cardinals on the board in the game's 26th minute, taking a feed from Jovenel D'Haiti (Evanston, Ill.) and beating GAC goalkeeper Luke Strom.
SMU made that 1-0 lead hold up until the 56th minute, when Grant Steine laced a laser of a shot that snuck between SMU goalkeeper Jon Szafranski (Barrington, Ill.) and the right post.
That would be the last shot Szafranski would let past him, as the senior netminder finished with 15 saves, including four acrobatic saves in overtime.
“We had some great chances, and (Gustavus) had some great chances,” Dembiec said. “This was a great collegiate soccer game, and I could not be prouder of our guys. Obviously, we would have loved to have come away with the win, but anytime you can take a point off a team like that, you have to be pleased.”
The Cardinals, who moved to 0-2-1 in the MIAC and 4-4-2 overall, get some much-needed rest, not playing against until Saturday, when SMU travels to Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference contest against Concordia.
“We're tired, and it's nice to have a couple days off before we have to play again,” Dembiec said. “We'll catch our breath, get some rest and be ready to go on Saturday.”
