RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team kicks off its 2015 season on the road on Tuesday, traveling to UW-River Falls for a 5 p.m. nonconference game against the Falcons.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2014: 5-12-1 Overall) at UW-River Falls Falcons (2014: 12-6-3 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Tuesday's game between Saint Mary's and UW-River Falls is the season-opener for both the Cardinals and Falcons.
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls—Their Last Meeting:
• August 31, 2014: Mother Nature may have been able to beat Saint Mary's, but UW-River Falls couldn't. The Cardinals, who weren't able to get their regularly-scheduled season-opener in against UW-River Falls due to torrential rain, took to the field against the Falcons two days later. And thanks to freshman Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.), the Cardinals came away from Ochrymowycz Field with a well-earned 2-1, double-overtime victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kick off a four-game homestand on Saturday, hosting UW-Superior in a 3 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field.
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons are right back on their home field on Wednesday, hosting Hamline in a 5 p.m. nonconference game in River Falls, Wis.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2014 Final Statistics | 2015 Schedule
The Cardinals return a pair of honorable-mention All-MIAC selections in Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) and Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.). … Six of Saint Mary's last 10 games last season—and eight games overall—were decided by one goal or less. … Saint Mary's finished 5-2-0 in its seven nonconference contests last year. … The Cardinals played five overtime games a year ago, going 3-1-1. Saint Mary's beat UW-River Falls (2-1), Buena Vista (2-1), and UW-La Crosse (1-0), lost to Concordia (2-1), and tied Gustavus (3-3). … The Cardinals' tie against Gustavus on Oct. 1, 2014 was their first deadlock since October 2, 2010, when Saint Mary's tied Concordia 0-0. … Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.) closed out her first year as a Cardinal with a team-leading 12 goals—including three game-winners. … Loof—who recorded four multiple-goal games—also led the team with 26 points. … Loof's 26 points were the most since Amy Sibik finished with 29 (12 goals, 5 assists) during the 2010 season. … Caroline Blackwood (Norwalk, Va.) closed out the 2014 season as the team's assist leader with five. … Blackwood's two-assist performance against St. Olaf on Oct. 14, 2014 was the first multiple-assist game of her collegiate career. … Schaefer was second to Loof in both goals (6) and points (15) last season. … Loof and Schaefer combined to score 18 of the team's 28 goals a year ago. … Loof notched her first collegiate hat trick against Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 23, 2014. She was the second player to net three goals in a game for the Cardinals last season—Schaefer scored three times against UW-Superior on Sept. 6. … The three-goal efforts by Loof and Schaefer were the most in a game since Sibik netted four goals against Ripon on Sept. 4, 2010. They also marked the first time Saint Mary's had two games where an individual scored three or more goals since Sibik scored four goals against UW-Superior and three goals against Simpson during the 2009 season. … Katie Slaght (Marshall, Mich.), Bridgett Leverich (Oswego, Ill.), Anna Taylor (St. Paul, Minn.), and Jesse Cwik (Chicago, Ill.) all netted their first collegiate goals to account for the Cardinals' other four goals last season. … The Cardinals converted all four of their penalty kicks a year ago—Schaefer scored on a PK vs. Buena Vista on Oct. 7 and vs. UW-Superior on Sept. 6, and Loof added PK goals against Carleton on Sept. 20 and Concordia on Oct. 3. … Miranda Halling (Rochester, Minn.), who made a season-high 10 saves against Concordia on Oct. 3, 2014, notched the first two shutouts of her collegiate career last season—stopping all three shots in a 1-0 win over UW-La Crosse on Oct. 22, while making one save in a 7-0 win over UW-Superior on Sept. 6. … GK Victoria Perez (Upland, Calif.) collected her first collegiate win in goal against Buena Vista on Oct. 7, 2014, stopping three of the four shots she faced. … Halling closed out the year boasting a 2.13 goals-against-average and a .699 save percentage, while Perez owned a 2.27 GAA and a .682 save percentage. … Halling stopped a team-high 54 shots last season. … Saint Mary's erupted for a season-high seven goals twice last season—beating Bethany Lutheran 7-0 on Sept. 23 and UW-Superior 7-0 on Sept. 6. … The Cardinals' seven goals against Bethany Lutheran and UW-Superior were the most since Saint Mary's posted back-to-back 7-0 victories over Ripon and Lakeland on Sept. 4-5, 2010. … Saint Mary's scored 15 goals in the first half, and 13 after halftime.
 
Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2015 Roster | 2014 Final Statistics | 2015 Schedule
Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back games against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes—UW-River Falls squares off against Hamline on Wednesday. The Falcons will face six MIAC opponents this year. Along with Saint Mary's and Hamline, UW-River Falls also has St. Catherine, St. Thomas, Gustavus and St. Olaf on its schedule. … The Falcons kick off the 2015 campaign without the services of graduated senior Alex Swatloski—a First-Team All-WIAC and Third-Team NSCAA All-North Region selection in 2014. … Swatloski led the Falcons in scoring with 13 goals and 31 points.  … Swatloski, who boasted a team-leading four game-winning goals, owned four multiple-goal games—including a three-goal effort against UW-Superior on Oct. 29. … UW-River Falls does return a First-Team All-WIAC and Third-Team NSCAA All-North Region selection in Abby Soderholm, who closed out her freshman season in 2014 finishing second in goals (10) and points (24). … Swatloski and Soderholm combined to score 23 of the team's 41 goals last season. … Kenzie Weisman closed out 2014 with a team-best eight assists. … UW-River Falls converted both of its penalty kicks a year ago—with both goals come off the foot of Soderholm. … Erica Cimochowski started all 21 games in goal for the Falcons last season, compiling a 0.92 goals-against-average and .800 save percentage. … Cimochowski finished the year with 72 saves, while also recording five shutouts. … UW-River Falls scored a season-high six goals in a 6-x win over Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 9, while also posting four-goal games against UW-Superior, Buena Vista, and St. Catherine. … The Falcons outscored their opponents 22-9 in the first half, and 17-9 after halftime. … UW-River Falls played three overtime games a year ago, going 1-2—including a season-opening double-OT loss to Saint Mary's.