GRINNELL, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team steps out of conference play for the final time on Tuesday, traveling to Grinnell for a 4 p.m. contest against the Pioneers.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-7-1 Overall)
at Grinnell Pioneers (5-6-1 Overall)

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Live Stats/Video

Last Action:
The Cardinals battled Viterbo to a tie for the second straight season, getting a first-half goal from Krystian Drozdz (Franklin Park, Ill.) in a 1-1 nonconference tie Monday evening at Ochrymowycz Field. … Grinnell, meanwhile, has been off since Oct. 6, when the Pioneers dropped a 2-1 decision to Beloit in Beloit, Wis.

SMU vs. Grinnell — Their Last Meeting:
September 10, 2011: SMU needed just one goal to accomplish a pair of firsts at Ochrymowycz Field. SMU made Jacob Bina's (West Salem, Wis.) goal 12 minutes into the opening half stand up, 1-0 — not only giving the Cardinals their first win of the season, but also giving Pete Watkins his first victory as SMU's head coach.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return home on Saturday, hosting Saint John's in a 3 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Ochrymowycz Field. It will be the final home game for SMU's five seniors — Jacob Bina (West Salem, Wis.), Kameron McKeeth (Woodstock, Ga.), Gunnar Knutson (Minneapolis, Minn.), Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Eric Lusch (Cottage Grove, Minn.). … Grinnell, meanwhile, is back in action on Saturday, when the Pioneers host Lawrence in a 1:30 conference contest at Grinnell, Iowa.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
With their 1-1 tie against Viterbo Monday, the Cardinals moved to 3-1-1 in their last five games. … Monday's deadlock was the Cardinals' first tie of the season and third under head coach Pete Watkins. … SMU's six wins through 14 games are the most since the Cardinals went 6-10-2 in 2009. … At 6-7-1, the Cardinals are off to their best start since 2000, when SMU went 7-6-1 in its first 14 games en route to a 9-8-1 overall record. … Monday's game against Viterbo marked the ninth time this season the Cardinals have played a game decided by one goal or less. … All six of SMU's wins have been decided by one goal. … Twenty-two of SMU's 31 games under coach Pete Watkins have been decided by one goal or less. … Krystian Drozdz (Franklin Park, Ill.) scored his third goal of the season to account for SMU's tally vs. Viterbo Monday. With the goal, Drozdz moved into a share of the team's goal-scoring lead with Midhat Mujic (Rochester, Minn.). … Fourteen of SMU's 16 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 — Drozdz scored his first two collegiate goals in a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Thomas on Sept. 12, while Mujic 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. … Zepeda picked up an assist in his second straight game on Monday and leads the team with three helpers. … Drozdz and Zepeda also share the team lead in points with seven, one more than Mujic. … Dontae Gillespie (Naperville, Ill.) stopped four Viterbo shots in Monday's 1-1 tie, moving him into a tie for the team lead in saves (35) with Christian Van Dam (Linovia, Mich.). … Van Dam stopped all six shots he faced against Hamline on Oct. 6 in recording his first collegiate shutout. Van Dam is the third Cardinal goalkeeper to notch the first shutout of his collegiate career this season. Joey Petrich (Elk River, Minn.) stopped all three shots he faced vs. Buena Vista last Wednesday for his first shutout, while Gillespie 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 Tuesday's nonconference game at Grinnell with a 1.92 GAA and a .729 save percentage, with Gillespie posting a 2.65 GAA and a .700 save percentage. … The Cardinals have scored a combined 12 goals in their six wins and one tie, but have been held off the scoreboard in five of their seven 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. … Monday's game against Viterbo was the second overtime contest of the season for SMU, which dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to St. Thomas on Sept. 12. The Cardinals, who played five overtime games a year ago, are now 0-4-3 in their last seven overtime games. …  Monday's game against Viterbo was the fifth straight home game for the Cardinals, who are 5-2-1 on the Ochrymowycz Field turf. SMU plays three of its final four regular-season games on the road.

Scouting The Grinnell Pioneers:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of three straight home games for Grinnell. … The Pioneers' 2-1 loss to Beloit snapped their two-game winning streak. … Grinnell is 4-2-0 in its last six games. … The Pioneers have scored four or more goals in three of their five wins — including a season-high five goals in a 5-1 season-opening win over Coe on Aug. 31. … Joseph Brown scored Grinnell's lone goal in its 2-1 loss to Beloit on Oct. 6. … The goal vs. Beloit was the team-leading eighth of the season for Brown, who also boasts a team-high 18 points. … Brown and Benjamin Warner share the team lead in assists with two each. … Isiah Tyree has played every minute of the Pioneers' 12 games in goal, owning a 1.47 goals-against-average, while stopping 55 of the 73 shots he's faced for a .753 save percentage. … Grinnell has scored 13 of its 21 goals in the first half, while the Pioneers' opponents have netted 11 of their 18 goals in the game's final 45 minutes. … Grinnell has won just once on the road this season (1-4-0), while boasting a 4-2-1 mark on its home turf.