WINONA, Minn. — With game time temperatures hovering in the upper 70s, Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener felt more like late-July than mid-September.
 
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer coach Pete Watkins, his Cardinals' offense remained stuck in a mid-December hibernation.
 
After scoring 12 goals in their first two games, the Cardinals have been limited to just two over their past three contests, including a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Augsburg Wednesday evening at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Cardinals, who opened the season with back-to-back shutout victories—5-0 over Viterbo and 7-0 vs. Cornell—battled the visiting Auggies to a scoreless draw through the game's opening 45 minutes Wednesday.
 
Just like their previous two contests, however, the second half proved to be the Cardinals' downfall, as Saint Mary's—which surrendered a combined three second-half goals in losses to North Park (2-1) and Luther (3-1)—allowed the game's only goal four minutes into the second half against Augsburg.
 
Barinedum Kordah beat Saint Mary's goalkeeper Nate Levy (Byron, Minn.) in the 49th minute to account for all the scoring. It was Kordah's team-leading fourth goal of the season and came off assists from Mohamed Sankoh and Sam Connor.
 
Levy, making his second start of the season in goal for the Cardinals, finished with four saves, while Augsburg goalkeeper Tommy Molski stopped all five Saint Mary's shots in recording the shutout.
 
The Cardinals (0-1-0 MIAC, 2-3-0 overall)—who have played all five of their games this season on their home turf—hit the road for the first time on Saturday, traveling to Collegeville, Minn., for a 2:30  p.m. conference game against Saint John's.