By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's soccer team steps out of conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain UW-River Falls in a 5 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2-0 Overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (5-1-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 15, 2018 * Northfield, Minn.: The Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into their conference-opener against St. Olaf, but the Oles responded with four unanswered goals in dealing Saint Mary's a 4-1 setback at Rolf Melby Field | Recap
• UW-River Falls—September 15, 2018 * Ripon, Wis.: The Falcons picked up their fifth win of the season, getting a goal from Kari Rollo in the 70^th minute, as UW-River Falls edged Ripon 1-0 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls—Their Last Meeting:
• September 20, 2017 * River Falls, Wis.: The Cardinals, who dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime decision to St. Olaf four days earlier — surrendering the game-winning goal with two seconds remaining in the extra period — got a goal from Natalie Ruegsegger (Billings, Mont.) 2:32 into OT to lift Saint Mary's to a 1-0 victory over the host Falcons at Remer Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Saturday, playing host to Augsburg in a 1 p.m. showdown at Ochrymowycz Field.
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons are back on the road — against another MIAC opponent — on Sunday, heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. nonconference game against Concordia.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Last Saturday's game against St. Olaf was the third straight road game for the Cardinals, who play their next two games — Wednesday vs. UW-River Falls and Saturday against Augsburg — on their home turf. … The Cardinals' 2-0 loss to No. 22 Loras on Sept. 8 snapped their season-opening three-game winning streak. … Maura Michener (Winona, Minn.) scored the Cardinals' goal in last Saturday's 4-1 loss to St. Olaf. … After scoring just one goal in her first two seasons in a Cardinal uniform, last Saturday's tally vs. St. Olaf was Michener's fourth of the season — moving her into a tie for the team lead with Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.) and Mary Loy (Burien, Wash.). … Arriaga has scored a goal in four of the team's first six 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. … Becca Dup (Albert Lea, Minn.) picked up a goal and an assist against Coe on Sept. 9 for his first multiple-point game this season. … Along with sharing the team lead in goals, Arriaga also shares the team lead in assists (2) with Dup and boasts a team-best 10 points. … Loy owns two of the Cardinals' three game-winning goals, with Michener accounting for the other. … 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 on Sept. 9, Arriaga is now 2-for-2 in penalty kicks. The Cardinals only attempted one PK a year ago. … Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.), who has started all six games in goal for the Cardinals, finished with six saves in last Saturday's loss to St. Olaf. … Pederson, 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 on Sept. 8. … With her two shutouts this season, Pederson owns six career shutouts—two in each of the last three seasons. … Pederson heads into Wednesday's showdown against UW-River Falls owning a 1.33 goals-against-average and a .733 save percentage. … Pederson has stopped 22 of the 30 shots she's faced this season. … The Cardinals hold a 116-64 advantage in shots attempted through six games—including a 64-30 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 17 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 surrendered just one second-half goal this season. … With their win over Coe on Sept. 9, Saint Mary's improved to 4-1-0—equaling its five-game start of a year ago. … 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 UW-River Falls Falcons:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of four straight road games for the Falcons. … Saint Mary's is the second of four games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-RF has already faced Hamline (W, 3-2) and still has Concordia and Augsburg on its schedule. … After opening the season 1-1-1, the Falcons have rattled off four straight victories, including last Saturday's 1-0 win over Ripon. … UW-River Falls' last three games have all been decided by one goal — 3-2 wins over Hamline and Northland, and a 1-0 victory over Ripon. … UW-River Falls' 1-0 win over Ripon was its second shutout of the season — the Falcons blanked Martin Luther 9-0 on Sept. 5. … Camryn Altnau heads into Wednesday's nonconference game against Saint Mary's owning the team lead in goals (7) and points (16). … Maggie Koehler leads the Falcons with three assists — one more than Altnau, Mariah Troje, Rachel Windingstad, and Kassdy Mackie — and is second to Altnau in both goals (4) and points (11). … Koehler has netted a team-high two game-winning goals. … As a team, UW-River Falls has outscored its first seven opponents 22-11 — and have got goals from nine different players. … UW-River Falls has used three different goalkeepers, led by Haley Crosby and Amanda Ladue. Crosby, who stopped all eight shots she faced in shutting out Ripon last Saturday, has started four of the Falcons' seven goals, compiling a 2.23 goals-against-average and a .777 save percentage. Ladue, meanwhile, owns a 1.15 GAA and .727 save percentage in three starts. … Crosby has stopped a team-best 26 shots, while Ladue has made eight saves. … UW-River Falls has outscored its opponents 21-11 — including 14-5 after halftime. … The Falcons have played a pair of overtime games this season — beating Hamline 3-2 on Sept. 8, while battling Northwestern (Minn.) to a 2-2 draw on Sept. 4.