By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to St. Olaf for an 11 a.m. showdown with the Oles.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0-0 MIAC, 4-1-0 Overall) at St. Olaf Oles (0-0-0 MIAC, 2-1-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 8-9, 2018 * Dubuque, Iowa/Cedar Rapids, Iowa: The Cardinals finished 1-1-0 in their Iowa trip last weekend, falling to No. 22 Loras 2-0, while scoring three unanswered goals in beating Coe 3-1 the following day | Loras Recap * Coe Recap
• St. Olaf—September 9, 2018 * Oshkosh, Wis.: Kaylyn Billmeyer scored the game's only goal in the 65^th minute, as the Oles picked up a 1-0 nonconference win over St. Norbert | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—Their Last Meeting:
• September 16, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: St. Olaf scored with two seconds remaining in overtime in handing the Cardinals a heartbreaking 2-1 conference setback at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home on Wednesday, stepping out of conference action for a 5 p.m. nonconference matchup against UW-River Falls at Ochrymowycz Field.
• St. Olaf: The Oles are back in action on Tuesday, heading to Ona Orth Athletic Complex in Arden Hills, Minn., for a 4 p.m. conference matchup against Bethel.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Saturday's game against St. Olaf is the third straight road game for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals' 2-0 loss to No. 22 Loras last Saturday snapped their season-opening three-game winning streak. … With their win over Coe last Sunday, Saint Mary's improved to 4-1-0—equaling its five-game start of a year ago. … Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.), Mary Loy (Burien, Wash.), and Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.) scored the Cardinals' three goals in last Sunday's 3-1 win over Coe. … Arriaga has now scored a goal in four of the team's first five games—including back-to-back penalty kick goals against UW-Stout and Coe. … Arriaga and Melina Rodriguez (Des Moines, Iowa) netted their first collegiate goals vs. Martin Luther on Aug. 31, while Megan Kowalis (Castle Rock, Colo.) scored her first two collegiate goals against Lawrence two days later. … Loy posted her first collegiate two-goal game against Lawrence on Sept. 2. … Dup also picked up an assist against Coe last Saturday for his first multiple-point game this season. … Arriaga and Loy enter Saturday's conference-opener against St. Olaf sharing the team lead with four goals each. … Loy owns two of the Cardinals' three game-winning goals, with Michener accounting for the other. … Arriaga and Dup boast the team lead in assists (2), while Arriaga owns a team-high 10 points, one more than Dup. … Saint Mary's nine assists this season have come from seven different players—Arriaga (2), Dup (2), Loy, Mackenzie Waters (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Rodriguez, Maddy Wallraff (Blaine, Minn.), and Abbi Mazurek (Darien, Ill.). … With her goal against Coe last Sunday, Arriaga is now 2-for-2 in penalty kicks. The Cardinals only attempted one PK a year ago. … Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), who needed to make just one save combined in recording back-to-back shutouts against Martin Luther and Lawrence to open the season, stopped a season-high nine shots against No. 22 Loras last Saturday, while adding four saves against Coe the following day. … With her two shutouts this season, Pederson owns six career shutouts—two in each of the last three seasons. … Pederson heads into Saturday's showdown against St. Olaf owning a 0.80 goals-against-average and an .800 save percentage. … Pederson has stopped 16 of the 20 shots she's faced this season. … The Cardinals hold a 110-42 advantage in shots attempted through five games—including a 61-20 edge in shots on goal. … Saint Mary's did not allow a single shot attempt in its 7-0 win over Lawrence on Sept. 2. … The Cardinals' seven goals against Lawrence were not only a season high, but also the most since scoring 10 in a 10-0 rout of Finlandia on Sept. 9, 2017. … Saint Mary's has scored 12 of its 16 goals in the second half—including six of seven against Lawrence on Sept. 2 and both against UW-Stout on Sept. 5. … Saint Mary's has not surrendered a second-half goal this season. … The Cardinals' 4-0 win over Martin Luther on Aug. 31 marked the second straight year in which Saint Mary's opened the year with a victory—and the second straight year in which SMU kicked off the year with a 4-0 triumph. Saint Mary's beat Lawrence to open the 2017 campaign.
 
Scouting The St. Olaf Oles:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the first home game since the Oles opened the season with a 2-1 loss to UW-Stevens Point on Aug. 31. St. Olaf plays six of its first eight games away from Rolf Melby Field. … With their 1-0 win over St. Norbert last Sunday, the Oles pushed their unbeaten streak to three straight (2-0-1). … St. Olaf has scored one goal in each of its first four games this season — beating UW-Oshkosh (1-0) and St. Norbert (1-0), falling to UW-Stevens Point (2-1), and tying Luther (1-1). … St. Olaf's four goals this season have come from four different players — Makenzie Schoustra, Claire Bash, Greta Anderson, and Kaylyn Billmeyer. … Schoustra also owns two of the team's three assists and leads the Oles with four points. … Emily Lecy has accounted for St. Olaf's other assist through four games. … Brynne Davis has started all four games in goal for St. Olaf, compiling a 0.71 goals-against-average and an .864 save percentage. … Davis has stopped 19 of the 22 shots she's faced, and has collected a pair of shutouts — stopping both shots she faced against UW-Oshkosh last Saturday, before turning aside all four shots against St. Norbert the following day. … The Oles have scored three of their four goals this season in the second half, while St. Olaf's opponents have netted two of their three goals in the game's opening 45 minutes.