By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Macalester for a 3:30 p.m. showdown against the Scots.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-5-0 MIAC, 5-9-1 Overall) at Macalester Scots (5-1-1 MIAC, 8-4-3 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—October 17, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Simpson scored the game's only goal seven minutes into the second half, as the Storm dealt the Cardinals a 1-0 setback in the teams' nonconference finale at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
• Macalester—October 17, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Scots scored in the final minute of the first half, but St. Scholastica answered 12 minutes into the second half, as the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in their final nonconference game of the season at Macalester Stadium | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Macalester — Their Last Meeting:
• October 20, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Macalester, ranked No. 17 in the nation, scored single goals in each half — and limited Saint Mary's to just three shots on goal — as the Scots dealt the Cardinals a 2-0 setback at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home to Ochrymowycz Field for the final time this season on Tuesday, hosting Carleton in a 7 p.m. conference matchup.
• Macalester: The Scots take to the road on Tuesday, traveling to Collegeville, Minn., for a 4 p.m. MIAC showdown against Saint John's.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Wednesday's game against Simpson was the final nonconference game of the season for the Cardinals, who finished 3-4-1 out of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this season. … The Cardinals play two of their final three regular-season games on the road — sandwiching a home game against Carleton next Tuesday around games at Macalester and Concordia the next two Saturdays. … … The Cardinals' 1-0 loss to Simpson Wednesday marked seventh time in the last nine games that the game was decided by one goal — 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 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 third among MIAC goalkeepers. … Jimmy Perreault (Batavia, Ill.) stopped both Simpson shots he faced in the first half of Wednesday's 1-0 loss to the Storm, while Michael Maniak (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) made seven saves over the game's final 45 minutes. … Maniak boasts a 1.47 GAA and a .783 save percentage, while Perreault boasts a 1.80 GAA and .667 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 16 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 Macalester Scots:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the second straight home game for the Scots, who are unbeaten (4-0-2) on their home turf this season. … With Wednesday's 1-1 tie against St. Scholastica, Macalester is now 0-1-1 in its last two games, and 2-2-1 in its last five. … Four of Macalester's last five games have gone into overtime. … Clayton Smith enters Saturday's matchup with Saint Mary's leading the Scots in goals (7) and points (14). … Logan Harper, Jamel Benhamida, and Floyd Krom have all scored three goals, ,while Nick Moore, Robert Anigbogu, Chris Bajek, and Ben Wagner have accounted for the Scots' other four goals. … Moore owns a team-best three assists, one more than Harper. … Smith, Harper, and Benhamida have all scored two game-winning goals, with Krom and Anigbogu netting the other two. … Colton Wenig has started 14 of the team's 15 games in goal, compiling a 0.81 goals-against-average and .755 save percentage. … Wenig has made 37 saves and owns four shutouts. … Nine of Macalester's 15 games have been decided by one goal or less — the Scots are 4-2-3 in those nine contests. … The Scots have played seven overtime games this season — beating Pomona-Pitzer (1-0), St. Olaf (2-1), and Bethel (2-1), while falling to Augsburg (1-0), and tying Pacific (0-0), Carleton (1-1), and St. Scholastica.