By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — After back-to-back home games, the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team hits the road on Thursday, traveling to North Central for a 3:30 p.m. nonconference showdown against the Rams.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-2-0 Overall) at North Central Rams (1-5-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's­­—September 13, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Central-Iowa scored the game's only goal late in the first half, as the unbeaten Dutch handed the Cardinals a 1-0 nonconference setback at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
• North Central—September 17, 2019 * Duluth, Minn.: St. Scholastica erupted for three goals in the first half — and tacked on two more in the second half for good measure — as the Saints dealt the Rams a 5-0 setback in the teams' UMAC opener | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. North Central — Their Last Meeting:
• August 31, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals got first collegiate goals from both Johnluke Nahorski (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.) en route to a 3-1 season-opening, nonconference win over North Central at Ochrymowycz Field | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, heading to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. showdown against Gustavus.
• North Central: The Rams hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Mankato, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. nonconference matchup against Bethany Lutheran.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Thursday's game against North Central is the first of three straight road games for the Cardinals. … With their 1-0 loss to Central-Iowa last Friday, all four of the Cardinals' games this season have been decided by shutout. Saint Mary's opened the season with a 5-0 win over Marian, followed that up with a 4-0 loss to Loras and 2-0 win over Edgewood, before last Friday's decision against the Dutch. … Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.), who scored twice in Saint Mary's 5-0 win over Marian on Aug. 30, scored his third goal of the season in the Cardinals' 2-0 win over Edgewood on Sept. 7. … Robbie Sobczak (Cloquet, Minn.) netted Saint Mary's other goal against Edgewood on Sept. 7. … Balsiger's two-goal game against Marian on Aug. 30 was the senior's first collegiate two-goal game. … Balsiger — a 2018 honorable-mention All-MIAC selection — scored a single-season career-high seven goals a year ago. … Zack Bracken (Osseo, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate multiple-point game, picking up assists on three of the Cardinals' five goals against Marian on Aug. 30. … Balsiger leads the team with three goals, while Sobczak, Jacob Clements (Holmen, Wis.), Johnluke Nahorski (Minnetonka, Minn.), and Cole Van Houten (Pine Island, Minn.) have accounted for the other four. … Nahorski has now scored in the Cardinals' season opener in each of the last two seasons. … Clements scored the season's first goal at 7:00 of the first half against Marian on Aug. 30 — it was his first collegiate goal. … Jimmy Perreault (Batavia, Ill.) and Sam Morris (Hockinson, Wash.) each made one save — Perreault's in the first half and Morris' in the second — in recording the combined shutout in the Cardinals' 2-0 win over Edgewood on Sept. 7. … Morris finished with a career-high five saves in the second half of the Cardinals' 1-0 loss to Central-Iowa last Friday. … The Cardinals did not allow Marian a single shot attempt in their season-opening 5-0 win over Marian. … After scoring three of their five goals against Marian on Aug. 30 in the first half, the Cardinals netted both of their goals against Edgewood on Sept. 7 in the second half. … Four of the five goals allowed by the Cardinals have come after halftime. … Saint Mary's five goals against Marian on Aug. 30 were the most since scoring six goals in a season-opening 6-0 win over Crown on Sept. 1, 2017. … With their 5-0 win over Marian on Aug. 30, the Cardinals have now won their season opener in each of their last five seasons. … The Cardinals' 5-0 win over Marian on Aug. 30 was their fourth straight win over the Sabres — all via shutout.
 
Scouting The North Central Rams:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Thursday's nonconference game against Saint Mary's is the Rams' first home game since Sept. 3. North Central has played its last four games on the road. … After opening the season with a 4-0 victory over Faith Baptist Bible College on Aug. 31, the Rams have dropped five straight — being outscored 24-1 during that span. … North Central has been shut out in each of its last three games, and has not scored since the sixth minute of a 2-1 loss to Bethel on Sept. 3 — a span of 303 scoreless minutes. … Henry Puchuela leads the Rams with two goals, while Ben Conrad, Andrew Botz, and Weston Buckley have accounted for North Central's other three goals. … Puchuela, Conrad, and Samuel Bang own the Rams' three assists, and Puchuela is the team's points leader with five. … Jerad Buse has started all six games in goal for North Central. Buse owns a 4.05 goals-against-average and .649 save percentage in 444 minutes of action, while Isaac Mugisha has compiled a 4.39 GAA and .750 save percentage in 96 minutes of relief action.