By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team steps out of conference play on Wednesday, hosting Simpson in a 4 p.m. nonconference matchup at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-8-1 Overall) vs. Simpson Storm (9-4-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 15, 2018 * St. Peter, Minn.: Gustavus erupted for three goals in the game's first 32 minutes, as the league-leading Gusties handed the Cardinals a 4-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback | Recap
• Simpson—October 13, 2018 * Indianola, Iowa: Justin Gilmour and Tanner Alderson each scored two goals and Baraka Ellie had three assists, as the Storm routed 25^th-ranked Loras 5-2 at Buxton Stadium | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Simpson—Their Last Meeting:
• October 17, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals peppered the Storm goal with seven shots — including five in the second half — but came up empty each time. Simpson, meanwhile, made the most of its offensive chances—especially over the game's final 45 minutes—scoring three times in the second half in handing Saint Mary's a 3-0 setback at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. showdown against Macalester.
• Simpson: The Storm return to conference play on Saturday, heading to Waverly, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. matchup against Wartburg.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Wednesday's game against Simpson is the final nonconference game of the season for the Cardinals, who are 3-3-1 out of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this season. … The Cardinals' 1-0 win over the Hamline last Saturday marked the sixth time in the last eight contests that the game was decided by one goal or less — including four that went into overtime. … Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) scored the Cardinals' goal in Monday's 4-1 loss to league-leading Gustavus. … Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wis.) — who scored his team-leading sixth goal in the Cardinals' 1-0 win over Hamline last Saturday — picked up the assist on Sobczak's first-half goal against Gustavus. … Balsiger's six goals — a single-season career-high — are three more than Sobczak and Charles Reit (Arcadia, Wis.), and four in front of Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.) and Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.). … The Cardinals have had 10 different players score goals this season. Along with Balsiger (6), Sobczak (3), Reit (3), Lichttenegger (2), and Szymanski (2), the Cardinals' other six goals have come from Cole Van Houten (Pine Island, Minn.), R.J. Vazquez (Antioch, Ill.), Johnluke Nahorski (Minnetonka, Minn.), Chris Beiersdorf (Arlington Heights, Ill.), and Klaus Friedli (Marshfield, Wis.). … Saint Mary's boasts five players who have recorded their first collegiate goals this season. Van Houten and Vazquez scored their first collegiate goals in the Cardinals' 4-3 loss to UW-Superior on Sept. 30; Szymanski and Nahorski netted 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 … Along with his team-leading six goals, Balsiger — who has now scored in two of the team's last three games — also boasts a team-best 13 points, five more than Reit. … Szymanski and Nahorski share the team lead in assists with three. … Alberto Centeno (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) — who needed to make just one save in the Cardinals' 1-0 win over Hamline last Saturday en route to his first collegiate shutout — finished with eight saves against Gustavus Monday. … Centeno 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 owns a 2.01 goals-against-average and a .744 save percentage in 10 starts this season. … Centeno's 61 saves this season rank second among MIAC goalkeepers. … Michael Maniak (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) made his second start of the season on Oct. 3 against Carroll, stopping five of the Pioneers' six shots. … Jimmy Perreault (Batavia, Ill.) made his first start of the season against Saint John's on Oct. 6, finishing with four saves. … Maniak boasts a 1.38 GAA and a .733 save percentage, while Perreault boasts a 2.58 GAA and .571 save percentage. … As a team, the Cardinals have scored three or more goals in four of their five 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 three goals in its 4-3 loss to UW-Superior on Sept. 30 were the most in a loss since the Cardinals netted three in a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Thomas on Sept. 12, 2012. … Saint Mary's has scored 10 goals in the first half and 12 goals after the break. On the flip side, the Cardinals' opponents have scored 13 first-half goals and 15 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 Simpson Storm:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back road games for the Storm, who close out the regular season at Wartburg on Saturday and at home against Coe next Tuesday. … With their 5-2 win over No. 25 Loras last Saturday, the Storm improved to 3-1-1 in their last five games. … Simpson's five goals against Loras last Saturday equaled their season high — the Storm also scored five times in 5-0 wins over and Westminster (Mo.). … Justin Gilmour and Tanner Alderson each scored two goals and Baraka Ellie had three assists in Simpson's 5-2 win over Loras last Saturday. … With his two goals against Loras last Saturday, Gilmour moved into the team lead with six goals, one more than Ian Dean and Spencer Young. … Ellie is the team-leading in assists with six. … Simpson boasts five players — Gilmour (13), Dean (12), Young (12), Ellie (12), and Alderson (11) — with 10 or more points this season. … Alderson leads the Storm with three game-winning goals, while Ellie has two, and Dean, Enrique Idehen, Mason Madren, and Young own the other four. … Jake Potratz has started 13 of the team's 14 games in goal, boasting a 1.02 goals-against-average and a .768 save percentage. … Potratz has stopped 43 of the 56 shots he's faced. … As a team, Simpson has recorded six shutouts this season — beating Bethel (5-0), Iowa Wesleyan (2-0), Grinnell (4-0), Westminster (Mo.) (5-0)and the University of Dubuque (2-0), and tying UW-Platteville (0-0). On the flip side, the Storm have been held without a goal three times — losing to Concordia (3-0) and Waldorf (1-0), and tying UW-Platteville (0-0). … Simpson has outscored its opponents 36-16. … Six of Simpson's nine wins have come on their home field — the Storm are 3-3-0 away from Buxton Stadium.