By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team steps out of conference play on Wednesday, heading to Carroll for a 5 p.m. nonconference showdown against the Pioneers.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-6-0 Overall) at Carroll Pioneers (0-9-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 30, 2018 * Superior, Wis.: The Cardinals surrendered four unanswered goals, as UW-Superior rallied from a 2-0 deficit to deal Saint Mary's a 4-3 nonconference setback | Recap
• Carroll—September 29, 2018 * Waukesha, Wis.: The Pioneers suffered a second straight one-goal conference loss, as Augustana (Ill.) scored the game's only goal with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation en route to the 1-0 victory at Schneider Stadium | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carroll—Their Last Meeting:
• Wednesday's meeting with be the first-ever between the Cardinals and the Pioneers.
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to conference play on Saturday, hosting Saint John's in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC matchup at Ochrymowycz Field.
• Carroll: The Pioneers are back at Schneider Stadium in Waukesha, Wis., on Saturday, as Carroll entertains North Central (Ill.) in a 7:30 p.m. CCIW contest.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals nonconference showdown against Carroll on Wednesday is their third straight road game. Saint Mary's is 3-2-0 away from Ochrymowycz Field this season. … The Cardinals' 3-2 loss to UW-Superior snapped a streak of three straight overtime games. Saint Mary's dropped a 1-0 double-overtime decision to Loras and a 2-1 OT heartbreaker vs. Augsburg, before beating Bethel 3-2 in overtime last Tuesday. … Saint Mary's last four games have all been decided by one goal. … The Cardinals 2 OT loss to Loras on Sept. 19 was the Cardinals' first double-overtime game since tying Carleton 0-0 on Oct. 24, 2017. … Saint Mary's three goals in last Sunday's 4-3 loss to UW-Superior were the most in a loss since the Cardinals netted three in a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Thomas on Sept. 12, 2012. … Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.), Cole Van Houten (Pine Island, Minn.), and R.J. Vazquez (Antioch, Ill.) accounted for Saint Mary's three goals in last Sunday's 4-3 loss to UW-Superior. … The goals were the first of their collegiate careers for Van Houten and Vazquez. … Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wis.) — who scored the game-tying goal in last Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win over Bethel — leads the team with four goals, two more than Lichttenegger, Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) Charles Reit (Arcadia, Wis.), and Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.). … The Cardinals have had 10 different players score goals this season. Along with Balsiger (4), Sobczak (2), Reit (2), Lichttenegger (2), and Szymanski (2), the Cardinals' other six goals have come from Van Houten, Vazquez, Johnluke Nahorski (Minnetonka, Minn.), Chris Beiersdorf (Arlington Heights, Ill.), and Klaus Friedli (Marshfield, Wis.). … Szymanski and Nahorski scored their first collegiate goals in Saint Mary's season-opening 3-1 win over North Central on Aug. 31, while Friedli tallied his first goal in a Cardinal uniform in Saint Mary's 4-1 victory over Crown on Sept. 4. … Szymanski picked up his first collegiate two-assist game against Crown on Sept. 4 … Balsiger enters Wednesday's game at Carroll leading the team with eight points, one more than Szymanki and two in front of Reit. … Szymanski owns a team-high three assists, with Reit, Mateo Means (Dallas, Texas) and Wally Barros (Santa Maria da Boa Vista, Brazil) sitting second to Szymanski with two assists each. … Alberto Centeno (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) stopped a career-high 18 shots — eight in the first half, eight in the second half, and two in the first overtime — in the Cardinals' 1-0 loss to Loras on Sept. 19. … Centeno's 18-save effort was the most in a single game since Jon Szafranski stopped 18 against Viterbo on Sept. 23, 2009. … Centeno's 18 saves against Loras were just two shy of the 20 saves he had made in his previous six games combined. … Centeno owns a 2.01 goals-against-average and a .754 save percentage in nine starts this season. … Michael Maniak (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) boasts a 1.80 GAA and a .667 save percentage in 150 minutes of work. … As a team, the Cardinals have scored three or more goals in all four of their wins this season — netting three goals in wins over Martin Luther (3-1), North Central (3-0), and Bethel (3-2), while tallying a season-high four goals in beating Crown 4-1. … Saint Mary's has scored seven goals in the first half and 11 goals after the break. On the flip side, the Cardinals' opponents have scored nine first-half goals and 11 goals after halftime. … With their 3-1 win over North Central on Aug. 31, the Cardinals have now won their season-opener in each of their last four seasons. … The Cardinals have now started the season 4-0-0 and 3-1-0 in their last two seasons.
 
Scouting The Carroll Pioneers:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of three straight home games for the Pioneers. … With Saturday's loss to Augustana (Ill.), Carroll saw its season-opening winless streak climb to 10 straight (0-9-1). The Pioneers are now 0-13-1 in their last 14 contests, dating back to a 3-0 win over Augustana (Ill.) on Oct. 15, 2017. … Last Saturday's 1-0 loss to Augustana (Ill.) was the Pioneers' second straight one-goal setback — having also lost 1-0 to Carthage on Sept. 22. … Carroll has been shut out in each of its last three games, and eight times in their 10 contests this season. … Issey Veladez and Shea Connell have scored the Pioneer's two goals this season — Veladez's coming in a 3-1 loss to Concordia (Wis.) on Sept. 12 and Cornell's coming in Carroll's 1-1 tie against St. Norbert four days later. … Both Carroll goals this season have been unassisted. … The Pioneers have used three different goalkeepers this season. Connor Thompson has compiled a 1.76 goals-against-average and .684 save percentage in 307 minutes of work, while Peter Villafuerte boasts a 2.75 GAA and .658 save percentage in 425 minutes of work. Mathias Holm has played 188 minutes between the pipes, owning a 4.30 GAA and .550 save percentage. … Carroll has given up five or more goals in a game three times — falling 5-0 to both Wartburg and Luther, while dropping a 7-0 decision to the University of Chicago.