ST. PAUL, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team entered Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against St. Thomas with a pair of streaks in tact—one the Cardinals hoped to extend, the other they wanted to extinguish.
 
Unfortunately, a late second-half St. Thomas goal proved to be the difference, as the Tommies snapped Saint Mary's season-opening four-game winning streak—while extending their own unbeaten streak over the Cardinals to nine—with a 2-1 victory at UST's South Field.
 
The Tommies, ranked No. 3 in the United Coaches Preseason Poll, broke a scoreless stalemate late in the first half, as Lucas Horton beat Cardinal goalkeeper Nate Levy (Byron, Minn.) in the 36^th minute to give St. Thomas a 1-0 advantage at the break.
 
Sean Butcher (Cave Creek, Ariz.)—the reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week—pulled the Cardinals even, 1-1, just four minutes into the second half, scoring his team-leading fourth goal of the season off an assist from Charles Reit (Arcadia, Wis.).
 
The deadlock did not last long, however, as St. Thomas' Justin Oliver scored what proved to be the game-winner just 10 minutes after Butcher's tally—and the Cardinals could not net the equalizer over the final 32 minutes in suffering their first loss of the season.
 
Levy finished with six saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Aidan Hogan stopped two of the Cardinals' three shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (0-1-0 MIAC, 4-1-0 overall) are back in action on Saturday, returning home to Ochrymowycz Field for a 1 p.m. conference showdown with St. Olaf.