WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team, coming off its third straight win — a 1-0 victory over Hamline Saturday — hosts Carleton in a 7 p.m. MIAC game Wednesday.




The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-3-0 MIAC | 6-6-0 Overall)
vs. Carleton Knights (3-1-1 MIAC | 10-1-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals got a second-half goal from Joe Bosco (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) and shutout goaltending from Christian Van Dam (Linovia, Mich.) en route to a 1-0 conference win over Hamline Saturday at Ochrymowycz Field. … Carleton, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back games last weekend in Northfield, Minn. — a 1-1 double-overtime tie against Augsburg Saturday and a 2-0 victory over St. Scholastica on Sunday.

SMU vs. Carleton — Their Last Meeting:
October 12, 2011: SMU gave league-leading Carleton all it could handle in their meeting a year ago. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they could not handle the Knights' Tim Wills, as the senior forward scored his second goal of the game with less than a minute remaining in the first overtime, lifting Carleton to a 2-1 victory at Bell Field in Northfield, Minn.

Up Next:
After four straight home games, the Cardinals hit the road for a pair of nonconference games, traveling to Milwaukee, Wis., for a 7 p.m. contest against Wisconsin Lutheran on Sunday, then heading to Grinnell, Iowa, for a 4 p.m. showdown on Tuesday. … Carleton, meanwhile, heads to St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday, squaring off against Hamline for a 1 p.m. conference game.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
With four games left in the conference season, the Cardinals are currently one point out of the fourth and final MIAC playoff spot. St. Thomas leads the lead at 5-0-0, followed by Gustavus (4-1-1), Augsburg (3-1-1), Carleton (3-1-1) and SMU (3-3-0). … Saturday's win over Hamline was the Cardinals' second straight 1-0 victory, and third consecutive win overall. … SMU's three-game winning streak marks the first time since the 2001 season that the Cardinals have won three consecutive games. The Cardinals have not won four straight since 2000. … SMU's six wins are the most since the Cardinals went 6-10-2 in 2009. … At 6-6 through 12 games, the Cardinals are off to their best start since 2000, when SMU went 7-5-0 in its first 12 games en route to a 9-8-1 overall record. … With their second straight 1-0 win, the Cardinals have had eight of their 12 games this season — including all six wins — decided by one goal. Twenty-one of SMU's 29 games under head coach Pete Watkins have been decided by one goal or less. … Joe Bosco (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) scored his first collegiate goal in SMU's 1-0 win over Hamline Saturday. … Bosco becomes the seventh player to score his first goal as a Cardinal this season. … Twelve of SMU's 14 goals have come from players playing their first seasons in an SMU uniform. … Jaime Zepeda (Chicago, Ill.) scored his first two collegiate against Concordia on Sept. 29 to become the third player this season to score two goals in a game — Krystian Drozdz's (Franklin Park, Ill.) scored his first two collegiate goals in a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Thomas on Sept. 12, while Midhat Mujic (Rochester, Minn.) scored twice in the Cardinals' 3-2 season-opening win over Edgewood. … The last time SMU had two or more multiple-goal scorers in a season was 2008, when Adam Lindsay, Cristian Reyes and Andy Adair all scored twice in a game. … Mujic enters Wednesday's game vs. Carleton leading the team in goals (3) and points (6). … Zepeda, Drozdz and Matt Graber (Denver, Colo.) are tied for second in both goals (2) and points (5). … Christian Van Dam (Linovia, Mich.) stopped all six shots he faced Saturday against Hamline en route to his first collegiate shutout. It's the second straight game — and third time this season — a Cardinal goalkeeper has notched the first shutout of his collegiate career. Joey Petrich (Elk River, Minn.) stopped all three shots he faced vs. Buena Vista last Wednesday for his first shutout, while Dontae Gillespie (Naperville, Ill.) recorded a nine-save shutout against Concordia-Chicago on Sept. 8. … Petrich, who has stopped six of the eight shots he's faced in 160:28 minutes, owns a team-best 1.12 goals-against-average and a .750 save percentage. Van Dam, meanwhile, enters Wednesday's conference game vs. Carleton with a 1.73 GAA and a .756 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored a combined 11 goals in their six wins, but have been held off the scoreboard in five of their six losses. … After scoring more than two goals just once in 17 games a year ago, the Cardinals have scored three goals in three of their 10 games this season — including 3-2 wins over Edgewood and Bethel, and a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Thomas. … The Cardinals' 4-3 overtime loss to St. Thomas on Sept. 12 was the first OT game of the season for the Cardinals, who played five overtime games a year ago — going 0-3-2. … Wednesday's game against Carleton is the fourth straight home game for the Cardinals, who are 5-2-0 on the Ochrymowycz Field turf.

Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Knights enter Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's ranked No. 16 in the latest NSCAA national poll and riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1). Carleton has outscored its opponents 19-5 during that seven-game span. … Carleton's lone loss this season was a 2-1 overtime loss at Saint John's on Sept. 14. … The Knights are a perfect 6-0-1 on their home field. … Branden McGarrity leads the Knights' high-powered offense, having scored a team-best 14 goals in 12 games, while also leading the team with 30 points. … Simon Ginet owns a team-leading six assists and is second in points with 16. … Twelve Carleton players have accounted for the Knights' 38 goals, while 16 players have recorded at least one point. … Keenan Smith and James Neher have shared the goalkeeper duties for the Knights this season, with Smith owning a 0.56 goals-against-average and an .864 save percentage, while Neher has a 1.00 GAA and an .800 save percentage. … Carleton has allowed just nine goals in 12 games — and has posted five shutouts. … The Knights have scored 18 first-half goals and have found the back of the net 20 times after halftime. Carleton's opponents, meanwhile, have scored six of their nine goals after the break. … The Knights have played three overtime games this season — beating Elmhurst 2-1, losing to Saint John's 2-1 and tying Augsburg 1-1. … Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's is the first of three straight road games for the Knights.