CHICAGO, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team faced a rather daunting task heading into Sunday's nonconference game against North Park.
 
After all, the Vikings entered the contest—their home opener—having won eight of their 10 home games a year ago, and were coming off a season-opening 4-0 victory over Aurora on Thursday.
 
And, as if playing the high-octane Vikings on their home field wasn't tough enough, Saint Mary's would have to find a way to shut down North Park's Gianfranco DeCarne—who had a goal and two assists against Aurora Thursday.
 
Unfortunately for coach Pete Watkins, the Cardinals could not shut down DeCarne and Co., as North Park dealt Saint Mary's its first loss of the season—scoring twice in the first half en route to a 3-1 victory.
 
DeCarne did not waste any time getting the Vikings' offense ramped up, scoring his second goal of the season just 26 seconds into the first half, while Gustav Leander pushed the North Park advantage to 2-0 13 minutes later.
 
That two-goal lead did not last long, however, as Sean Butcher (Cave Creek, Ariz.) got the Cardinals on the board eight minutes later, taking a feed from Jim Dreshar (Hugo, Minn.) and rifling a shot past North Park goalie Wesley Woodley for his first goal of the season.
 
The Vikings added an insurance goal in the second half, Emil Erickson found the back of the net in the game's 72^nd minute.
 
Cardinal goalkeeper Nate Levy (Byron, Minn.) finished with seven saves, including six in the first half, for the Cardinals.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, kicking off the home portion of their schedule with a 7 p.m. nonconference game against Bethany Lutheran at Ochrymowycz Field