By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER, Minn. — A year after putting an end to a 31-game winless streak against Gustavus, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team set out to do something Monday that no Cardinal team in program history had done before — beat the Gusties on their home field.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals — who ended that 31-game drought with a 2-0 victory in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup a year ago — the Gusties had other ideas.
 
League-leading Gustavus — which entered Monday's matchup riding a season-high five-game winning streak, not to mention a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) — erupted for three first-half goals and the Cardinals could not recover, falling to the Gusties 4-1.
 
The Gusties' high-octane offense was on full display in the game's opening 45 minutes, as Arthur Parens scored just six minutes into the first half — and GAC added back-to-back goals from Joe Brandel and Nolan Garvin less than a minute apart to push that advantage to 3-0.
 
Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) got the Cardinals on the board in the 35^th minute, taking a feed from Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) and beating Gustavus goalkeeper Anders Severson for his third goal of the season — leaving Saint Mary's staring at a two-goal, 3-1 deficit at the break.
 
Matt Gibbons, who assisted on Gustavus' first two goals, found the back of the net with an unassisted tally seven minutes into the second half to give Gustavus (7-0-1 MIAC, 11-1-1 overall) its second three-goal cushion of the afternoon.
 
Albert Centeno (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) finished with eight saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Severson stopped three of Saint Mary's four shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (2-5-0 MIAC, 5-8-1 overall) step out of conference play for the final time this season on Wednesday, hosting Simpson in a 4 p.m. matchup at Ochrymowycz Field.