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WINONA, Minn. — James Larson (Polson, Mont.) became the eighth Saint Mary's University men's soccer player to score his first collegiate goal Wednesday evening in the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Olaf.

Unfortunately for SMU, Larson's second-half tally accounted for all of the Cardinals' scoring, as St. Olaf scored a pair of goals in each in half in handing Saint Mary's a 4-1 conference setback at Ochrymowycz Field.

"At times, I thought we played very well tonight," said SMU coach Pete Watkins. "It was good to see James get that first (collegiate) goal — he's been working very hard every time he's on the field.

"And Joey (Petrich) was outstanding in net," Watkins added. "He came up with some big, big saves to keep us in there."

Mackenzie Lund and Kevin Skrip gave the Oles a 2-0 first-half advantage, as Lund scored off a Skrip assist in the game's fourth minute, and the duo did it again — only opposite — 10 minutes later, as Skrip tallied his team-leading ninth goal with Lund getting the assist.

St. Olaf clung to its two-goal advantage until the 73rd minute, when Larson headed in a Fernando Camacho (Chicago, Ill.) cross to pull SMU within one, 2-1.

The Oles, however, quickly regained their two-goal lead when Claudio Barboza scored four minutes after Larson's tally, and Dan Lilly added his first of the season six minutes later to put the game out of reach.

Petrich finished with nine saves in goal for the Cardinals, while St. Olaf goalkeeper Ben Braman stopped two of the three shots he faced.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, when SMU hosts Bethel in a 1 p.m. conference showdown at Ochrymowycz Field.