By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team returns to conference play on Tuesday, as the Cardinals head to Bethel's Ona Orth Athletic Complex for a 4 p.m. matchup against the Royals
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-3-0 MIAC, 3-5-0 Overall) at Bethel Royals (0-2-0 MIAC, 3-6-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—September 22, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Augsburg scored six minutes into overtime, lifting the Auggies to a 2-1 conference win over the Cardinals at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
• Bethel—September 22, 2018 * Arden Hills, Minn.: UW-Platteville scored a pair of goals early in the first half, as the Pioneers dealt the Royals a 2-0 nonconference setback at Ona Orth Athletic Complex | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—Their Last Meeting:
• September 26, 2017 • Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's scored a pair of goals in the game's first 25 minutes en route its first conference win of the season, a 2-1 victory over Bethel at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals hit the road on Sunday, traveling to Superior, Wis., for a 4 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Superior.
• Bethel: The Royals are back in action on Saturday, heading to Collegeville, Minn., to take on Saint John's. Game time is slated for 3:30 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• After back-to-back home games against Loras and Augsburg, the Cardinals will play their next three contests on the road. … With Saturday's 2-1 loss to Augsburg, the Cardinals have now played two straight games that have gone into overtime. Saint Mary's dropped a 1-0 double-overtime decision to Loras last Wednesday. … Last Wednesday's 2 OT loss to Loras was the Cardinals' first double-overtime game since tying Carleton 0-0 on Oct. 24, 2017. … Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) scored the Cardinals' goal against Augsburg last Saturday — knotting the game at 1-1 with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. … Balsiger's goal against Augsburg was his team-leading third of the season, one more than Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.). … Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) scored his first goal of the season to account for the Cardinals' lone tally in their 4-1 loss to St. Olaf on Sept. 15. … Sobczak became the eighth different player to score for the Cardinals this season. … Along with Balsiger (3) and Szymanski (2), Sobczak, Johnluke Nahorski (Minnetonka, Minn.), Charles Reit (Arcadia, Wis.), Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.), Chris Beiersdorf (Arlington Heights, Ill.), and Klaus Friedli (Marshfield, Wis.) own Saint Mary's other six goals. … Szymanski and Nahorski scored 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 … Szymanski heads into Tuesday's showdown at Bethel leading the team in assists (3) and points (7). … Mateo Means (Dallas, Texas) and Wally Barros (Santa Maria da Boa Vista, Brazil) sit second to Szymanski with two assists each. … Alberto Centeno (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) stopped a career-high 18 shots — eight in the first half, eight in the second half, and two in the first overtime — in last Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Loras. … Centeno's 18-save effort was the most in a single game since Jon Szafranski stopped 18 against Viterbo on Sept. 23, 2009. … Centeno's 18 saves on Wednesday against Loras were just two shy of the 20 saves he had made in his previous six games combined. … Centeno owns a 2.02 goals-against-average and a .750 save percentage in seven starts this season. … Michael Maniak (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) has stopped all five shots he's faced in goal this season—making three saves against Martin Luther on Sept. 1 and stopping both shots he faced in relief of Centeno against Crown on Sept. 4. … As a team, the Cardinals have scored three or more goals in all three of their wins this season — netting three goals in wins over Martin Luther (3-1) and North Central (3-0), and tallying a season-high four goals in beating Crown 4-1. … Saint Mary's has scored five goals in the first half, while netting seven goals after the break. On the flip side, the Cardinals' opponents have scored five first-half goals and nine 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 Bethel Royals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Statistics | 2018 Schedule
• Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of back-to-back home games for the Royals, who have collected all three of their wins this season on their home field. Bethel has played six of its first nine games at home, going 3-3-0. … Saturday's loss to UW-Platteville was Bethel's second straight setback — the Royals suffered a 7-1 loss to Augsburg last Tuesday. … Bethel has scored just one goal in its six losses this season — the Royals have been shut out by Simpson (5-0), UW-Superior (3-0), Cornell (1-0), St. Olaf (2-0), and UW-Platteville (2-0), while scoring once in last Tuesday's 7-1 loss to Augsburg. … Two of BU's three wins have been 1-0 decisions — beating both Northwestern (Minn.) and Bethany Lutheran — with the Royals' other win a 4-1 victory over Crown. … Brenden Reich has scored a team-leading two goals, with Gavin Matson, Brandon Martinez-Luhman, Cobi Heckmann, and Carson Thomas accounting for the Royals' other five goals. … Connor Nelson and Andrew Zwart own the team's two assists through nine games, while Reich boasts a team-high four points. … Reich, Marson, and Martinez-Luhman have netted BU's three game-winning goals. … Colin Hupert and Brant Wieber have shared the goalkeeping duties this season. Hupert owns a 2.41 goals-against-average and .690 save percentage in six starts, while Wieber has compiled a 2.15 GAA and .667 save percentage in three starts. … Hupert has made a team-leading 29 saves, with Wieber stopping 16 of the 24 shots he's faced. … Bethel has scored five of its seven goals after halftime — including an OT game-winner against Northwestern-St. Paul on Aug. 31. On the flip side, the Royals' opponents have scored six goals in the first half and 13 in the second — including all seven of Augsburg's goals in last Tuesday's 7-1 win over BU.