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WINONA, Minn. – The Saint Mary's University women's soccer game against Gustavus on Wednesday night was comparable to a chess match – lots of strategy and slow-developing action.

Fortunately for SMU, Sloane Kuramoto's (Rochester, Minn.) goal in the game's 105th minute was the move the Cardinals needed for checkmate.

Kuramoto scored the winning goal in the second overtime, off an assist from Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.), as the Cardinals evened their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record at 2-2-0, while also evening their overall mark at 5-5-0.

It was a fitting finish for Kuramoto and Sibik, who had several promising offensive attacks, but nothing clicked until the 105th minute.

“It was really awesome to finally connect with Amy,” said Kuramoto of her second goal of the season. “We felt like it had been coming the whole game. To finally score was relieving and exhilarating.”

The game was fairly quiet during regular time. The passing on both sides was crisp, but no one could finish a play until the very end.

“Sometimes we were trying to force things,” said SMU coach Eric Zimmerman. “We talked about exploiting the corners, and once we did that things really started to open up.”

Even though this is her first year at SMU, Kuramoto has been a solid contributor from the start.

“She's just been huge for our team,” said Zimmerman. “She has great vision on the field, and she combines so well with Sibik.”

Goalkeeper Cassie Hulett (Milwaukee, Wis.) had four saves for SMU in the shutout, while Gustavus' Chelsea Bayer finished with five stops.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, as they host nationally ranked Concordia in a 3 p.m. conference contest at Ochrymowycz Field.