WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team steps out of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, entertaining UW-La Crosse in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-10-1 Overall) vs. UW-La Crosse Eagles (10-3-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
•  Saint Mary's—October 15, 2016 * Northfield, Minn.: The Cardinals surrendered a pair of goals in the game's opening 16 minutes and could not recover in dropping a 3-0 conference decision to St. Olaf | Recap
• UW-La Crosse—October 14, 2016 * La Crosse, Wis.: UW-Eau Claire's Caroline Henderson scored the game's only goal in the 60^th minute, leading the Blugolds to a 1-0 WIAC win over the Eagles at Veterans Memorial Sports Complex| Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-La Crosse—Their Last Meeting:
• October 7, 2015 * La Crosse, Wis.: Over the final 82 minutes of their nonconference game against UW-La Crosse, Saint Mary's gave the high-powered Eagles all they could handle. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was in those opening eight minutes that the Eagles would score what proved to be the game's only goal, lifting UW-La Crosse to a 1-0 victory over Saint Mary's | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to conference play on Saturday, hosting St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup at Ochrymowycz Field.
• UW-La Crosse: The Eagles return home to La Crosse, Wis., on Saturday, entertaining UW-Whitewater in a 1 p.m. WIAC contest.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against UW-La Crosse is the final nonconference game of the regular-season for the Cardinals. … Seven of the Cardinals' 13 games this season have been decided by one goal or less. … The Cardinals have played three overtime games this season—Saint Mary's dropped 1-0 OT decisions to both Concordia and UW-River Falls, while battling Benedictine to a 0-0, double-overtime draw. … The Cardinals' 0-0 deadlock against Benedictine on Sept. 9 was their first tie since a 3-3 stalemate against Gustavus on Oct. 1, 2014. … The Cardinals' scoreless deadlock against Benedictine on Sept. 9 was also their first 0-0 tie since Oct. 2, 2010, when Saint Mary's and Concordia played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. … Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.) has accounted for three of the team's last eight goals, with five different players—Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn.), Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Abby Lafko (Gilbert, Ariz.), Hailey Cottle (Orting, Wash.), and Bridgette Leverich (Verona, Wis.)—accounting for the other five goals. … With her first-half tally vs. Gustavus on Sept. 28, Dup moved into a share of the team lead in goals (3) with Schaefer—one more than Loof, Lafko, Leverich, and Wallraff. … Schaefer is also the team's points leader with eight—two more than Dup and Leverich—while Aubrie Cornell (Columbia, Mo.) owns a team-high three assists. … Cottle's goal against Martin Luther on Sept. 5 was her first as a Cardinal. … Loof collected the Cardinals' first goal of the season, scoring in the game's 72^nd minute against Luther on Sept. 1. … Schaefer and Wallraff each scored two goals in the Cardinals' 7-2 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 5. It was the fourth multiple-goal game of her career for Schaefer, while it was the first time in her career that Wallraff has scored twice in a game. … Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), who made three saves in the Cardinals' 3-0 loss to St. Olaf last Saturday, finished with a career-high 10 saves in Saint Mary's 1-0 setback against Hamline on Oct. 8. … Pederson has now made eight or more saves in a game five times this season. … Pederson, who has started the Cardinals' last 12 games in goal, has recorded two shutouts this season. Pederson earned her first collegiate shutout against Benedictine on Sept. 9—without having to record a save—while stopping the lone UW-Superior shot she faced en route to shutout No. 2 on Sept. 18. … Pederson owns a 1.69 goals-against-average and has made 65 saves in 1,169 minutes played. … The Cardinals' seven goals in their 7-2 nonconference win over Martin Luther on Sept. 5 were a season high. All seven goals came after Saint Mary's surrendered back-to-back tallies to the Vikings in the game's opening 20 minutes. … The Cardinals' seven goals against Martin Luther were the most since netting seven against both UW-Superior and Bethany Lutheran during the 2014 season. … Nine of the Cardinals' last 11 goals have come in the second half. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 10-8 after halftime, but the Cardinals have been outscored 16-6 in the game's opening 45 minutes. … The Cardinals' 7-2 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 5 snapped a 12-game road losing streak, dating back to a 7-1 win at Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 23, 2014.
 
Scouting The UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's is the final nonconference game of the season for the Eagles. … UW-La Crosse plays three of its final four games on the road, where the Eagles boast a 5-2-0 record this season. … Last Friday's 1-0 loss to UW-Eau Claire, snapped UW-L's five-game winning streak—and its three-game WIAC win streak. … The Blugold's second-half goal was the first allowed by the Eagles in conference play this season. UW-L has outscored its four WIAC opponents 14.1. … All three of the Eagles' losses this season have been 1-0 decisions. On the flip side, UW-L has outscored its opponents 27-3 in its 10 wins. … Haley Hartkemeyer leads the team with 14 points, one more than Alex Cording. … Cording and Hartkemeyer are two of four Eagles with 10 or more points through 13 games—Natalie Herzog (11) and Maddie Granos (10) are the other two. … Cording has scored a team-high six goals, one more than Hartkemeyer and Herzog, while Hartkemeyer shares the team lead in assists (4) with Granos. … Herzog (4), Hartkemeyer (3), and Cording (2) have accounted for nine of the team's 10 game-winning goals. …  Kennedy Brault has started 12 of the team's 13 games in goal, compiling a 0.54 goals-against-average, while stopping 34 of the 40 shots she's faced this season. … Brault has collected four shutout wins this season. … The Eagles have not played an overtime game this season. … UW-L has outscored its opponents 14-3 in the first half, and 13-3 in the game's final 45 minutes.