By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) entered Wednesday's nonconference matchup against UW-River Falls sharing the league lead in goals with 13.
 
Ninety minutes later, the sophomore exited Falcon Field as the league-leader.
 
Matthews scored twice in the game's first 15 minutes, and two goals was all the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team needed to drop UW-River Falls 2-1 — and close out its nonconference schedule with a perfect 7-0-0 record.
 
Matthews did not wait long to break the deadlock atop the league scoring list, netting her 14th of the season just 3:55 into the opening half. Mary Loy (Burien, Wash.) picked up her third assist of the season on the early first-half tally.
 
Ten minutes later, Matthews was at it again, finding the back of the net for the 15th time this season — marking the fifth time this season the Cardinal sophomore had netted two or more goals in a game — to give Saint Mary's a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Cardinals maintained that two-goal lead well into the second half, before the Falcons foiled goalkeeper Gabriella Pederson's (Chaska, Minn.) bid for a seventh shutout this season, cutting Saint Mary's advantage to 2-1 with less than four minutes remaining in regulation.
 
That would be as close as the Falcons would get, however, as Saint Mary's held on for the win, pushing its unbeaten streak to three straight (2-0-1).
 
Pederson finished with four saves for the Cardinals, while UW-River Falls goalkeeper Amanda Ladue stopped 13 of Saint Mary's 15 shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (8-6-1 overall) return to conference play on Saturday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC contest against Hamline. The Falcons (8-8-1 overall) return to the UW-River Falls Soccer Stadium on Saturday, playing host to UW-Oshkosh in a 2 p.m. WIAC contest.