By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — After playing back-to-back overtime games against Loras and Augsburg last week, it only seemed fitting that the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against Bethel would require more than 90 minutes to determine a winner.
 
Fortunately for coach Corbin Bowers, Tuesday's end result proved to be much more favorable than the previous two.
 
The Cardinals, trailing 2-0 early in the first half, rattled off three unanswered goals — including the game-winner by Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) with 1:22 remaining in the first extra period — leading Saint Mary's to a 3-2 victory.
 
The Cardinals did not make collecting conference win No. 1 easy, falling behind 2-0 before the game was even five minutes old.
 
Andrew Zwart scored the game's first goal just 31 seconds into the first half, and Keagan Heckmann pushed Bethel's lead to 2-0 in the fourth minute.
 
The Royals clung to that two-goal advantage over the final 40 minutes of the opening half, as BU took that 2-0 lead into the break.
 
And what a break it proved to be.
 
Well-rested, the Cardinals' offense turned up the heat, as Charles Reit (Arcadia, Wis.) scored on a penalty kick in the 75^th minute to cut the Bethel lead to 2-1.
 
Seven minutes later, Saint Mary's struck again, getting an unassisted goal from Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) to knot the game at 2-2 — and send it into overtime.
 
And set up Sobczak's heroics, as the junior headed a Reit corner kick past Bethel goalkeeper Colin Hupert for the 3-2 victory.
 
Albert Centeno (Elk River Grove, Ill.) picked up the win in goal for the Cardinals, stopping five of the seven shots he faced, while Huppert finished with six saves in goal for the Royals.
 
The Cardinals (1-3-0 MIAC, 4-5-0 overall) hit the road on Sunday, traveling to Superior, Wis., for a 4 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Superior.