By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team returns to conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals close out the regular season against No. 19 St. Thomas in a 3:30 p.m. showdown at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-6-1 MIAC, 10-6-1 Overall) vs. #19 St. Thomas Tommies (8-1-1 MIAC, 13-2-2 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — October 30, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals got second-half goals from Nicole Thompson (Riverside, Calif.) and Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.), as Saint Mary's pushed its winning streak to four with a 2-0 MIAC win over Macalester | Recap
• St. Thomas — October 30, 2019 * St. Paul, Minn.: Tessa Trettel scored the game's only goal in the 52nd minute, as the Tommies remained tied atop the MIAC regular-season standings with a 1-0 victory over St. Catherine | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
• October 3, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's gave 15th-ranked St. Thomas all it could handle over the game's final 45 minute. In fact, it was the Cardinals who scored the only goal of the second half in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Ochrymowycz Field. Unfortunately, the first half was not as favorable, as St. Thomas erupted for three goals in the game's opening 45 minutes in dealing Saint Mary's a 3-1 setback | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Saturday's game against St. Thomas is the season finale for the Cardinals — and the final collegiate game for seniors Shelly Wing (Verona, Wis.), Natalie Ruegsegger (Billings, Mont.), and Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.).
• St. Thomas: The Tommies have already locked up an MIAC post-season berth and a first-round bye. St. Thomas will host an MIAC Tournament semifinal game on Nov. 6.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Wednesday's game at Macalester was the third straight — and final — road game of the season for the Cardinals. … With their 2-0 win over Macalester Wednesday, the Cardinals improved to 10-6-1 overall — marking the first time since 2007 that Saint Mary's has won 10 games in a season. … The Cardinals' pushed their winning streak to four straight with Wednesday's win over Macalester, while their unbeaten streak climbed to five (4-0-1). … Saint Mary's has now posted back-to-back shutout wins ­— beating Hamline 1-0 on Oct. 26 and Macalester 2-0 Wednesday. … Eight of Saint Mary's 10 wins this season have been via shutout — the lone exceptions, 2-1 wins over Edgewood on Aug. 30 and UW-River Falls on Oct. 23. … Nicole Thompson (Riverside, Calif.) and Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.) netted Saint Mary's two second-half goals against Macalester Wednesday. … Arriaga has now scored in back-to-back games, having netted the game-winner in the Cardinals' 1-0 win over Hamline on Oct. 26. … Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) scored both of the Cardinals' goals in Saint Mary's 2-1 win over UW-River Falls on Oct. 23. It was the fifth time this season the sophomore has scored two or more goals in a game. Matthews recorded her first collegiate hat trick on Oct. 2, accounting for all three Cardinal goals in the 4-3, double-overtime loss to St. Olaf, while netting a pair of goals against UW-River Falls on Oct. 23, Marian on Sept. 6 and Ripon two days later. … Matthews' hat trick vs. St. Olaf on Oct. 2 was the Cardinals' first since Emily Loof netted three goals against Bethany Lutheran on 6, 2017. … With her two goals against UW-River Falls, Matthews pushed her team- and conference-leading total to 15. … Matthews' 15 goals are the most in a season since 1995, when Julie Giebe scored 17. … Thompson picked up her team-leading fourth assist of the season on Arriaga's goal against Macalester Wednesday, while Matthews also leads the team in points with 33. … Matthews scored the Cardinals' first goal of the season, finding the back of the net at 31:39 of the opening half against Edgewood on Aug. 30. It was not only the Cardinals' first goal of the season, but also the first of Matthews' SMU career. … Genesis Capacio (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored her first collegiate goal in the second OT in the Cardinals' 1-0 win over Concordia on Oct. 19. … The Cardinals boast six players who have scored their first collegiate goals this season. Along with Capacio and Matthews, the Cardinals also have gotten collegiate firsts from Claire Fletcher (Woodbury, Minn.), Avery Sutton (Minneapolis, Minn.), Haylee Queen (Spokane, Wash.), and Abbi Mazurek (Darien, Ill.) — who all achieved the feat against UW-Superior on Oct. 7 — while Thompson scored her first collegiate goal in Saint Mary's 3-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 14. … Gabriella Pederson (Chaska, Minn.) stopped all four shots she faced against Macalester Wednesday en route to her second straight four-save shutout. … Pederson has now recorded eight shutouts this season, ranking her tied for sixth all-time. Pederson's 15 career shutouts, meanwhile, put the senior goalkeeper No. 5 in program history. … Pederson made a season-high six saves against St. Catherine on Sept. 17. … Pederson has compiled a 0.85 goals-against-average and .768 save percentage in 15 starts this season. … Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) made her first collegiate start in goal for the Cardinals against Bethel on Oct. 12, finishing with four saves, and added a career-high five saves in her second career start against Carleton on Oct. 15. … The Cardinals' 1-0, two-overtime win over Concordia on Oct. 19 was their third overtime game of the season. … All three of Saint Mary's overtime games have gone into the second extra 10-minute session. … Saint Mary's has scored 15 goals in the first half, while netting 18 goals after halftime. On the flip side, Saint Mary's opponents have netted nine goals in the first half and nine after halftime. … Four of the Cardinals' six losses this season have been by one goal — the lone exceptions, a 2-0 setback against Saint Benedict on Oct. 5 a 4-0 loss to Bethel on Oct. 12. Saint Mary's other four losses include a 4-3, double-overtime loss to St. Olaf, a 1-0 setback to Augsburg, and 2-1 losses to both St. Catherine and Gustavus — with both 2-1 games decided in the final three minutes of regulation. … The Cardinals scored a season-high eight goals in an 8-0 nonconference win over UW-Superior on Oct. 7. It was the highest offensive output since Saint Mary's scored 10 goals against Finlandia on Sept. 9, 2017. … Saint Mary's 1-0, 2 OT win over Concordia on Oct. 19 marked the third straight meeting between the two teams that has gone into a second overtime. Saint Mary's is 1-1-1 in those three contests. … Saint Mary's three goals in its 4-3, 2 OT loss to St. Olaf on Oct. 2 were the most scored in a loss since netting three in a 6-3 setback to No. 9 Loras on Oct. 9, 2013. … Saint Mary's 2-1 loss to St. Catherine on Sept. 17 snapped the Cardinals' season-opening four-game winning streak. It was the first time since the 2009 season that Saint Mary's had opened the year with four consecutive wins. … The Cardinals' 1-1 tie against Carleton marked the second straight meeting between the two teams that has been extended to a second OT. Saint Mary's beat Carleton 3-2 a year ago in two overtimes, snapping a 13-game losing streak vs. the Knights. … Saint Mary's loss to St. Catherine on Sept. 17 was its second straight one-goal loss to the Wildcats, who beat the Cardinals in 3-2 in double overtime a year ago. … Saint Mary's 2-1 win over UW-River Falls on Oct. 23 was the final nonconference game of the season for the Cardinals, who closed out their non-league slate with a perfect 7-0-0 record. … Saint Mary's 8-0 win over UW-Superior on Oct. 7 moved the Cardinals to 7-0-0 against the Yellowjackets all-time. Saint Mary's holds a 25-1 scoring edge vs. the Yellowjackets — including shutouts in each of the last six meetings. … With their 3-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 14, the Cardinals improved to 6-0-0 all-time vs. the Knights — outscoring MLC 34-5 in their six meetings. … Fueled by their six nonconference wins this season, the Cardinals are now 10-1-0 in nonconference play over the last two years — the lone blemish a 2-0 loss to nationally ranked Loras on Sept. 8, 2018 … With their 3-0 win over Ripon on Sept. 8, Saint Mary's has now outscored the Red Hawks 30-8 in their last nine meetings. … Saint Mary's 2-1 win over Edgewood on Aug. 30 marked the third straight year in which the Cardinals have won their season opener.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Tommies enter Saturday's regular-season finale at Saint Mary's ranked No. 19 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25. … With their 1-0 win over St. Catherine Wednesday, St. Thomas pushed its winning streak to six and its unbeaten streak to eight (6-0-2). … St. Thomas' last three wins — over Saint Benedict, Macalester, and St. Catherine — have all be 1-0 shutouts. … St. Thomas has outscored its opponents 21-3 during its current eight-game unbeaten run. …  Tessa Trettel scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season in UST's 1-0 win over St. Catherine Wednesday. … Paige Cater, who is second to Trettel with four goals, shares the team lead in assists (7) with Kate Heimer and Kaley Roberts. … Trettel owns a team-high 17 points and is one of five Tommies with more than 10 points this season — Cater (15), Heimer (13), Roberts (13), and Callie Haetle are the others. … Trettel's goal against St. Catherine Wednesday was her team-leading fourth game-winning goal. … Sarah Pasternak and Olivia Elvidge have shared the goalkeeping duties this season. Pasternak has compiled a 0.28 goals-against-average and .930 save percentage in 10 starts, while Elvidge owns a 0.67 GAA and .737 save percentage in seven starts. … Pasternak has stopped 40 of the 43 shots she's faced this season. Elvidge, meanwhile, has made 14 saves on 19 shots. … St. Thomas' two losses this season have both been one-goal decisions — UST fell to Illinois Wesleyan 2-1 on Sept. 21, while falling to Augsburg 1-0 on Sept. 25. … The Tommies have played six overtime games this season — beating Washington (Mo.) University (1-0), Bethel (2-1), Concordia (1-0), and Saint Benedict (1-0), while tying Wartburg (0-0) and Carleton (0-0).