By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — You could not script a better start to Senior Day for the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team.
 
Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) and Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.), two of seven seniors honored prior to the game, scored goals in the game's first 14 minutes — with fellow seniors Yael Calderon (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.) collecting one of the assists — and the Cardinals never looked back, rolling to a clutch, 2-1 win over Concordia Saturday afternoon at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 3-4-0 in conference play — and, more importantly — moved within one victory of the sixth and final MIAC Tournament berth with three conference games remaining.
 
Sobczak and Calderon wrote the first chapter in this storybook Senior Day, with Sobczak finding the back of the net off a Calderon assist in the game's sixth minute.
 
Balsiger took it from there, scoring his single-season career-high eighth goal of the season 10 minutes later — with Lichttenegger and Jacob Clements (Holmen, Wis.) picking up the assists.
 
The Cardinals maintained that two-goal advantage through the final 29 minutes of the opening half and the first minutes of the second, before the Cobbers' Telvin Vay cut the Saint Mary's lead in half, beating Cardinal goalkeeper Michael Maniak (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) — yet another Cardinal senior — in the 47th minute.
 
Maniak finished with four saves in goal for the Cardinals, while CC goalkeeper Noah Sahr made two saves for the Cobbers.
 
The Cardinals (3-4-0 MIAC, 6-8-0 overall) step out of conference play on Wednesday, hosting Martin Luther in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field. The Cobbers (2-5-0 MIAC, 8-5-2 overall), meanwhile,  return home on Saturday, entertaining Gustavus in a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup.