MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Augsburg entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team boasting one of the most lethal offensive threats in the conference.
 
Shutting down the Auggies' Ashley St. Aubin—the top goal scorer in the conference—was paramount if the Cardinals were going to prevail.
 
Unfortunately, the Cardinals learned first-hand that shutting down St. Aubin & Co. was easier said than done.
 
St. Aubin scored her conference-leading ninth and 10^th goals of the season three minutes apart late in the first half, and the Auggies held off a late Cardinal charge in handing Saint Mary's a 2-1 MIAC setback at Edor Nelson Field.
 
The Auggies broke a scoreless deadlock in the 34^th minute, as St. Aubin netted an unassisted tally. And the senior didn't waste any time making it 2-0, scoring her second of the game three minutes later.
 
Augsburg would maintain that two-goal advantage through the final seven minutes of the first half, and through the opening 38 minutes of the second half—before the Cardinals' Emily Loof (Colorado Springs, Colo.) thwarted the Auggie shutout bid with her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get.
 
Zoe Boleneus (Spokane, Wash.) put in a Herculean effort between the pipes for the Cardinals, finishing with a career-high 11 saves—including six in the first half.  Augsburg goalkeepers Emily Chapman and Marissa Guillou, meanwhile, each finished with one save.
 
After back-to-back road games, the Cardinals (0-3-0 MIAC, 5-4-0 overall) return home to Ochrymowycz Field on Wednesday, entertaining Bethel in a 7 p.m. conference matchup.