Box Score  | GameDay Preview

MOORHEAD, Minn.  — It was a streak-snapping afternoon for the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team Saturday.

The Cardinals' offense — thanks to Matt Graber's (Denver, Colo.) second goal of the season in the game's 30th minute — put an end to a three-game scoreless drought.

And when Alex Blancas (Des Plaines, Ill.) netted his first collegiate goal — breaking a seven-game goalless drought — three minutes later, the Cardinals were on their way to a 3-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Concordia, putting an end to their four-game losing streak.

“It feels good, and I'm very happy for the guys — they battled for 90 minutes and were rewarded for their efforts,” said SMU coach Pete Watkins, who picked up his first conference win as the Cardinals' head coach. “This was a tough field to play on, but the guys gutted it out and that was really good to see.”

Bryan Neu (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) had a hand in the Cardinals' first two goals, as the senior defender set up Graber's goal at 29:24 of the first half, then assisted on Blancas' first goal as a Cardinal at 32:27, as the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into the halftime break.

Jacob Bina (West Salem, Minn.) gave the Cardinals some breathing room with his second goal of the season 26 minutes into the second half on a feed from Kameron McKeeth (Woodstock, Ga.), and SMU goalkeeper Chris Williams (Chicago, Ill.) made the lead stand up, stopping three of the five shots he faced.

“It's nice to get our offense back on track,” Watkins said. “To get the scoring from three different guys, I was happy to see us spread the offense out like that.”

The Cardinals (1-4-0 MIAC, 2-6-1 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, hosting UW-Superior in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field.