WINONA, Minn. — They need 49 minutes to get their offense warmed up, but once they did, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team was unstoppable.
After being held off the scoreboard for the game's opening 49 minutes Friday evening, the Cardinals erupted for six goals in the game's final 41 minutes en route to a season-opening 6-0 nonconference victory over Crown at Ochrymowycz Field—a win that gave coach
Corbin Bowers his first collegiate coaching victory.
"We were satisfied with the performance the guys put in today," Bowers said. "We challenged them to make a second-half adjustment and they definitely rose to the challenge.
"It's always important to get that first win under our belt," Bowers added. "We are thriving to build on the little things day in and day out and today was the start of that. I am very proud of our guys and I know we can push for bigger things this season."
Chris Beiersdorf (Arlington Heights, Ill.) opened the scoring for the Cardinals, netting the team's first goal of the 2017 season in the 49
th minute.
Sean Butcher (Cave Creek, Ariz.) would make it 2-0 and 3-0 with a pair of goals five minutes apart—the second on a penalty kick.
(De Pere, Wis.) pushed the Saint Mary's lead to 5-0 with a pair of goals, and
Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) rounded out the scoring with his first of the season with less than three minutes remaining.
Jared Wolt (Farmington, Minn.) chipped in a pair of assists, and Navy Levy (Byron, Minn.) and
Jimmy Perreault (Batavia, Ill.) did not need to make a save in combing on the shutout. Levy played the first 84:36, with Perreault coming on in relief for the final 5:24.
The Cardinals (1-0 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, hosting Viterbo in a 4 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field.
