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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team did something it hadn't done in five straight games Saturday evening.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Gunnar Knutson's (Minneapolis, Minn.) first-half tally — SMU's first goal since a Patrick Moore (Woodbury, Minn.) tally on Oct. 6 — was not enough, as St. Thomas scored three times in the game's opening 45 minutes in handing Saint Mary's a 3-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Ochrymowycz Field.

“It was a tough way for the season to end,” said SMU coach Chris Dembiec. “We battled all season long and really just never caught any breaks. Tonight was just another example of that. We had a couple really good scoring chances, but could only muster the one goal.”

The quick-striking Tommies caught the Cardinals on their heels in the opening minutes, scoring a pair of goals two minutes apart before the first half was even 13 minutes old.

Knutson cut the gap to one with his first goal of the season in the 17th minute, but the Tommies would answer, as Mike Hutton converted on a penalty kick seven minutes later.

SMU kept the Tommies off the board the rest of the way, thanks in part to the play of goalkeeper Chris Williams (Chicago, Ill.) — who finished with six saves — but the UST defense was equally as impenetrable in handing the Cardinals the season-ending setback.

“St. Thomas is a solid team and they played well,” said Dembiec, whose team ended the season 0-10-0 in the MIAC and 2-15-0 overall. “They got those two goals early and we just never were able to dig out of that hole.”