WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's soccer team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, hosting St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. game at Ochrymowycz Field.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC | 2-2-0 Overall)
Vs. St. Thomas Tommies (0-0-0 MIAC | 3-0-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals closed out the inaugural Cardinal M Club Weekend Classic with a 1-1-0 record, beating Concordia-Chicago 1-0 on Saturday, then falling to Lawrence 1-0 on Sunday at Ochrymowycz Field. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, had little trouble improving to 3-0-1, blanking UM-Morris 2-0 in St. Paul, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
September 14, 2011: SMU got off to a quick start in its conference-opening game against St. Thomas. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was St. Thomas that had the better finishing kick, as the Tommies tied the game with eight minutes remaining in the opening half, then netted the game-winner 30 seconds into the second, as UST handed SMU a 2-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback.

Up Next:
The Cardinals hit the road for their second conference game of the season, traveling to Northfield, Minn., Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest against St. Olaf. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, steps out of conference play on Thursday, traveling to Decorah, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. contest against Luther.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
With their 1-0 win over Concordia-Chicago and their 1-0 loss vs. Lawrence, the  Cardinals have had three of their four games this season decided by one goal. Sixteen of SMU's 21 games under head coach Pete Watkins have now been decided by one goal or less. … SMU beat Concordia-Chicago Saturday without scoring a goal — the game's lone goal came when Midhat Mujic's (Rochester, Minn.) cross deflected off a CUC player and into the net for an own goal. … Dontae Gillespie (Naperville, Ill.) stopped all nine shots he faced vs. Concordia-Chicago Saturday to earn his first collegiate shutout. … Three of SMU's four goals have come in the first half, while five of the seven goals allowed by the Cardinals have been scored in the game's final 45 minutes. … SMU's three goals vs. Edgewood in their season-opening 3-2 win on Aug. 31 were scored by players competing in their first games in a Cardinal uniform. Mujic scored twice and Jordan Sinkfield (St. Paul, Minn.) added the other. … Mujic's two-goal game was the Cardinals' first multiple-goal game since Juamaine Venter netted a pair of goals against Crown on Sept. 7, 2010. … Matt Graber (Denver, Colo.), Fernando Camacho (Chicago, Ill.) and Jaime Zepeda (Chicago, Ill.) all picked up assists vs. Edgewood. … Gillespie has made 17 saves in his three goalkeeper appearances, while Christan Van Dam (Linovia, Mich.) has stopped six of the eight shots he's faced in three appearances. … The Cardinals scored more than two goals once in 17 games last season — they scored three in the first half against Edgewood on Aug. 31. … With their 3-2 win over Edgewood on Aug. 31, the Cardinals are now 3-1-0 in their last four season openers.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
With their 2-0 win over UM-Morris on Sunday, the Tommies remain unbeaten under first-year head coach Jon Lowery (3-0-1). … Nick Rapisarda scored his third goal of the season and 12th of his career to ice Sunday's 2-0 victory over UM-Morris. St. Thomas is 9-0 in games when Rapisarda has scored a goal. … Brett Day has collected two goals and two assists in four games. … St. Thomas has eight goals from five different players. … UST has not allowed a goal in its last five halves and has not trailed this season. … GK Mitchell Wolff has not allowed a goal in 237:00 this season, stopping all five shots he's faced. …  Along with just two seniors, the Tommies do not have a junior on the squad, while boasting 21 sophomores and freshmen. … Over the last five seasons, UST is 36-3-2 when it scores two or more goals, but just 3-24-7 when it scores one or less. … Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's is the first “official” road game for the Tommies, who opened the season with two home games and two neutral-site contests.