ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, traveling to St. Thomas for a 4 p.m. showdown against the defending conference champion Tommies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC * 4-1-0 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (0-0-0 MIAC * 3-0-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video

Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 9-10, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up a pair of wins to capture the BIG Athletic/Adidas M Club Tournament last weekend. Saint Mary's routed Finlandia 10-0 in Saturday's opener, before edging Nebraska Wesleyan 2-1 the following day | Finlandia Recap * Nebraska Wesleyan Recap
• St. Thomas—September 10, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: St. Thomas erupted for four second-half goals, breaking a 0-0 deadlock and leading UST to a convincing 4-0 nonconference win over St. Scholastica | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—Their Last Meeting:
• October 22, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The schedule-makers were not very nice to Saint Mary's this week—and neither were their opponents. The Cardinals opened the week Wednesday, dropping a 3-1 nonconference decision to UW-La Crosse—the 26^th-ranked team in the latest NSCAA poll. Three days later, the Cardinals were once again facing a team recognized as one of the best in the country—13^th-ranked and league-leading St. Thomas. And the Tommies, like the Eagles before them, were rather ungracious guests to Ochrymowycz Field, handing the Cardinals a 2-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home to Ochrymowycz Field on Saturday, entertaining St. Olaf in a 3:30 p.m. conference game.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies hit the road on Saturday, traveling to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. conference showdown with Saint Benedict.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Cardinals head into their conference opener at St. Thomas having won four of their first five games—including back-to-back victories over Finlandia and Nebraska Wesleyan at last weekend's BIG Athletic/Adidas M Club Tournament. … The Cardinals are off to their best start since 2007, when they opened the season with five consecutive wins. … With their wins over Finlandia and Nebraska Wesleyan, the Cardinals have now outscored their first five opponents 24-4. … The Cardinals' 24 goals through five games are the most since scoring 28 goals for the entire 2014 season. … Saint Mary's 10-goal outburst in last Saturday's 10-0 win over Finlandia was its highest single-game offensive performance since blanking Northland 10-0 during the 2007 season. … The Cardinals' 10 goals against Finlandia came from eight different players. Mary Loy (Burien, Wis.) and Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.) each scored twice, while Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kendall Archer (Draper, Utah), Sarah Egbert (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Mackenzie Waters (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Anissa Barrios (Gilbert, Ariz.), and Marissa Carlyle (San Jose, Calif.) accounted for the others. … The goals by Archer, Barrios, Carlyle, and Egbert were all collegiate firsts. … Saint Mary's now has had eight players net their first collegiate goals this season—Archer, Barrios, Carlyle, Egbert, Loy, Waters, Mary Arnold (Winona, Minn.), and Erin McElligott (New York City, N.Y.). … Loof recorded her second collegiate hat trick in Saint Mary's 7-1 win over Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 6. Both of Loof's hat tricks have come against Bethany Lutheran, the first coming on Sept. 23, 2014. … The two-goal game by Dup against Finlandia last Saturday was the first of her collegiate career, while Loy has now scored two goals in a game twice this season—having also notched two in her collegiate debut against Lawrence. … Both Dup and Loy picked up a pair of assists in the Cardinals' win over Bethany Lutheran on Sept. 6—it was Dup's second two-assist game of the season and the first of her collegiate career for Loy. … All four goals in the Cardinals' season-opening win were scored by freshmen. Loy scored twice, while Waters and Arnold accounted for the other two. … Loy's goal in the 21^st minute against Lawrence on Sept. 1 was the Cardinals' first goal of the season. … Loy and Loof enter Tuesday's conference opener against St. Thomas sharing the team lead with five goals each, one more than Dup. … Dup owns a team-best five assists and shares the team lead in points (13) with Loy. … Dup has recorded at least one point in four of the Cardinals' first five games. … Goalkeeper Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), who finished with seven saves against Lawrence on Sept. 1 en route to her third collegiate shutout, has allowed just one goal in her three appearances. … Pederson boasts a 0.40 goals-against-average and has made 10 saves. … Zoe Boleneus boasts a 1.18 GAA and has stopped eight of the 11 shots she's faced in her three starts in goal. … Pederson closed out a stellar freshman season a year ago with eight games of eight of more saves—including a career-high 11 saves against Carleton on Oct. 29 and a pair of 10-save efforts. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 24-4—including 13-2 in the first half and 11-2 after the break. … With their 2-1 loss to Ripon on Sept. 2, the Cardinals slipped to 0-3-1 in their last four overtime games. … With their 7-1 win on Sept. 6, the Cardinals improved to 4-0-0 all-time against Bethany Lutheran—outscoring the Vikings 23-2. … The Cardinals have beaten Bethany Lutheran 7-1 in each of their last two meetings.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Tuesday's conference opener against Saint Mary's is the second straight home game—and third time in their first four games that the Tommies have played on their home turf. … Last Sunday's win over St. Scholastica pushed UST's season-opening unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1). … All three of St. Thomas' wins this season have come via shutout—1-0 vs. UW-Stevens Point, 1-0 vs. UW-River Falls, and 4-0 vs. St. Scholastica. … The Tommies eight goals this season have come from seven different players. Mallory DeBoom leads the team with two goals, with Brielle Bierman, Hailey Zweber, Brie Bourdage, Megan, Zickert, Paige Cater, and Lauren Wikstrom accounting for the other seven. … Bierman and Tessa Trettel share the team lead with two assists each, while DeBoom is the team-leader with five points, one more than Bierman. … Katie Lynn and Olivia Elvidge have each started two games in goal for the Tommies. Lynn has stopped all four shots she's faced in her two starts, owning a 0.00 goals-against-average and 1.000 save percentage, while Elvidge has stopped five of the seven shots she's faced en route to a 0.90 GAA and .714 save percentage. … The Tommies have scored seven of their eight goals after halftime—including a double-OT game-winner by DeBoom in UST's 1-0 victory over UW-River Falls on Sept. 8. … Two of St. Thomas' first four games have gone into double-overtime—beating UW-River Falls in the 102^nd minute, and battling UW-La Crosse to a 2-2 stalemate.