ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team hits the road on Wednesday, traveling to St. Thomas to kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 4 p.m. game against the Tommies.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC | 0-4-0 Overall)
At St. Thomas Tommies (0-0-0 MIAC | 1-2-0 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals battled back from a 1-0 halftime deficit, but gave up a late second-half goal in dropping a 2-1 nonconference decision to Lawrence Sunday at Ochrymowycz Field. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, has been off since last Wednesday, when the Tommies came out on the short end of a 1-0 decision to Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
September 14, 2011: Just three days after the Cardinals erupted for three goals in a 3-1 win over Marian, SMU could not solve the Tommies' defense, as No. 21 UST handed Saint Mary's a 2-0 setback in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at Ochrymowycz Field.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return home on Saturday, hosting St. Olaf in a 1 p.m. conference game at Ochrymowycz Field. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, steps out of conference play on Thursday, traveling to Decorah, Iowa, for a 5 p.m. contest against Luther.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Bethany Schmidt (Sparta, Wis.) and Rachel Tackmann (Lake City, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' two goals last weekend — Schmidt scored in SMU's loss to the University of Dubuque on Friday, while Tackmann's tally came against Lawrence on Sunday. … All three of SMU's goals this season have been collegiate firsts — Katie Holmes (Edina, Minn.) recorded the Cardinals' first goal of the season with her second-half tally against Loras on Sept. 2. … Holmes also picked up the assist on Schmidt's goal Friday, giving her a team-leading three points … Heidi Martin (Ankeny, Iowa) notched her first collegiate assist on Holmes' goal vs. Loras. … Goalkeeper Miranda Halling (Rochester, Minn.) made six saves in Friday's 2-1 loss to the University of Dubuque and recorded a season-high seven saves Sunday against Lawrence. … Halling, who has played every minute of the team's first four games in goal, owns a 2.86 goals-against-average and a .667 save percentage. … Halling picked up her first collegiate win in goal with a nine-save effort against Marian on Sept. 11, 2011. … After scoring five of their eight goals in the first half in 2011, all three of the Cardinals' goals this season have come in the second half. SMU's opponents, meanwhile, have scored five goals in each half.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Since opening the season with a 2-0 win over UW-Stevens Point, the Tommies have dropped back-to-back one-goal games to UW-Oshkosh and Wartburg. … UST hasn't scored in its last 173 minutes. … Hannah Pawlik has scored two of UST's three goals. … Tori Shepard and Callan Faulkner have shared the goalkeeping duties, with Shepard stopping eight of the nine shots she faced, while Faulkner has allowed two goals on nine shots. … UST head coach Sheila McGill (58-29-9) played collegiate soccer for Saint Mary's soccer player (1993-97). … St. Thomas plays 12 of its first 14 games away from campus. The Tommies boast a 27-9-5 road record over the last five seasons. … UST is 13-2-1 in games when Katy Scherer has scored a goal. … St. Thomas has its largest roster in recent history with 31 players, including 21 returners and nine freshmen. … Half of the Tommies' 31-player roster comes from outside the state of Minnesota, led by eight from Wisconsin.