CHICAGO, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team kicks off its 2014 season on Monday, as the Cardinals head to North Park for an 11 a.m. nonconference contest against the Vikings.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (2013: 4-13-1 Overall) at North Park Vikings (1-0-0 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
Today's game against North Park is the season opener for the Cardinals, who had their original season-opener against North Central (Minn.) postponed due to severe weather on Friday. … North Park kicked off its 2014 campaign on a high note Friday, blanking Benedictine 3-0 in Chicago, Ill.
 
SMU vs. North Park — Their Last Meeting:
Monday's matchup with be the first meeting in program history between the Cardinals and the Vikings
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals return home on Thursday, as Saint Mary's squares off against North Central (Minn.) in a 7 p.m. game that was originally scheduled for last Saturday, but was postponed due to severe weather. … North Park is also on the road on Saturday, heading to Concordia, Wis., in Mequon, Wis., for a 12 p.m. nonconference game against Saint John's.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2013 Final Statistics
The Cardinals boasted a pair of players on the 2013 All-MIAC honorable-mention team in Zach Palma (Washburn, Wis.) and Fernando Camacho (Chicago, Ill.). It was the second straight honorable-mention selection for Camacho. …  Midhat Mujic (Rochester, Minn.) closed out the season as the team's offensive leader a year ago, owning team highs in assists (4) and points (10), while sharing the top spot in goals (3) with Matt Graber (Denver, Colo.) and Ryan Geidner (Antioch, Ill.). … Andrew Jaworski (Racine, Wis.) and Nate Vandegrift (Lakeville, Minn.) were second on the team with two goals each. … Saint Mary's 22 goals in 2013 came from 14 different players, while 16 Cardinals recorded at least one point. … Nine of the Cardinals' 22 goals last season were first collegiate goals. … Geidner, Jaworski, Vandegrift, Camacho, Derrick Washington (Minneapolis, Minn.), Jose Martinez (Houston, Texas), Gianluca LoCasto (Oak Park, Ill.), Trevor Rottinghaus (La Porte City, Iowa) and Brett Heimerdinger (La Grange, Ill.) all netted their first goals as a Cardinal last year. … The Cardinals boasted four players who had multiple-goal games a year ago — including a school-record three multiple-goal scorers in a single game. Mujic, Vandegrift and Graber all scored twice in SMU's 11-1 win over Presentation on Sept. 1, while Geidner tallied a pair of goals against Crown on Sept. 14. … Mujic also assisted on two of Saint Mary's 11 goals in the 11-1 rout vs. Presentation on Sept. 1, giving the senior SMU's first six-point game since Mike Schmitt achieved the feat against Concordia in 2005. … The Cardinals' 11 goals in their 11-1 win over Presentation on Sept. 1 were a school record, breaking the old mark of 10 — also set on Sept. 1 — in a 10-1 win over Rockford in 2006. … Goalkeeper Joey Petrich (Elk River, Minn.) finished the season with a team-leading 82 saves. … Petrich closed out the 2013 season boasting a 1.70 goals-against-average and a .752 save percentage. … Petrich — who stopped a career-high 14 shots in the Cardinals' 2-0 win over Macalester a year ago — equaled that mark this season, when he stopped 14 Concordia shots on Oct. 5. … Petrich recorded two shutouts last season and owns three shutouts in his collegiate career. … Fellow goalkeeper Evan Claffy (Joliet, Ill.) stopped all seven Bethel shots he faced in recording his first collegiate shutout, in his first collegiate start on Oct. 19. Claffy stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced in his two starts last season. … Seventeen of Saint Mary's 22 goals came in the Cardinals' four wins and one tie. … Twelve of the Cardinals' 18 games last season were decided by one goal or less. … Ten of Saint Mary's 13 wins under coach Pete Watkins have been decided by one goal. … Saint Mary's 1-0, season-ending loss to Macalester on Nov. 2 was the Cardinals' third overtime setback — and fourth overtime game — of the season. SMU battled Lakeland to a 1-1 2OT tie on Sept. 5, while falling to Augsburg 1-0 on Sept. 18 and Concordia 2-1 on Oct. 5. … Saint Mary's had its three-game, season-opening unbeaten streak (2-0-1) snapped with a 1-0 loss to Edgewood on Sept. 8. Saint Mary's run was the best start since the Cardinals went 3-0-1 to open the 2001 season. … With their win over Cornell on Aug. 30, the Cardinals have won their season opener in back-to-back seasons and three times in the last four years.
 
Scouting The North Park Vikings:
2014 Roster | 2014 Schedule | 2014 Statistics
Monday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back contests against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic foes for the Vikings, who face Saint John's in a nonleague game on Saturday. … North Park's three goals against Benedictine last Friday came from three different players — Przemyslaw Zablelski, Marcus Olton and Frederick Anderson. It was the first collegiate goal for all three. … Diego Lashlee and Felipe Mattar collected assists against Benedictine Friday. … Wesley Woodley — who was the Vikings' starting goalkeeper in all 19 games last season — earned the shutout in goal in North Park's season opener, stopping both shots he faced. It was the ninth shutout in the last two seasons for Woodley. … North Park returns four of its six all-conference performers from a year ago. … The Vikings reached the CCIW post-season tournament for the third time in the last four years in 2013. … North Park was unbeaten (7-0-1) on its home turf last season. …