• SO CLOSE: Saint Mary's scored two second-half goals — including Eli Szymanski's (La Crosse, Wis.) game-tying PK with 10 minutes remaining in regulation to knot the game at 2-2 — only to have UW-Eau Claire score with less than five minutes remaining to deal SMU a 3-2 setback last Saturday.
• ONE-GOAL NAILBITERS: Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Gustavus marked the fifth time in the last six games that the outcome has been decided by one goal. SMU has beaten Simpson (1-0), while falling to Carleton (2-1), Saint John's (1-0), UW-Eau Claire (3-2), and Gustavus.
• HOME SWEET HOME: Two of Saint Mary's three wins this season have come on their home turf. The Cardinals are 2-2-0 at Ochrymowycz Field this season, having defeated Martin Luther (5-0) and Edgewood (3-1), while falling to Saint John's and St. Scholastica.
• HITTING THE ROAD: The Cardinals are in the midst of playing four of five games on the road — the lone exception, Saturday's conference matchup against Concordia.
• KING OF THE PK: Eli Szymanski (La Crosse, Wis.) scored his fourth penalty kick goal of the season against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday. Szymanski scored two of Saint Mary's three goals in its Sept. 4 win over Edgewood — both coming on penalty kicks — while also adding a PK goal against Carleton on Sept. 15. Szymanski has now scored Saint Mary's last eight PK goals.
• OFFENSIVE LEADERS: With his second-half goal against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday, Szymanski pushed his team lead in goals to five, two more than Landon Pendleton (Mobile, Ala.). Diego Rivera (Chicago, Ill.), who assisted on Szymanski's goal against Simpson on Sept. 11, leads the team with two helpers, while Szymanski has the team lead in points with nine. … Syzmanski's four goals this season give him 19 for his four-year collegiate career, ranking the senior sixth all-time
• CAREER FIRSTS: Pendleton, Roberto Bontempi (Santos, Brazil), and Alex Keeler (Antioch, Ill.) all scored their first collegiate goals in the Cardinals' 5-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 6. … Pendleton netted a pair of goals vs. the Knights for his first career two-goal game. … Jack Hurley (Homewood, Ill.) scored his first collegiate goal in SMU's 3-1 win over Edgewood on Sept. 4.
• TAKING THE SHOT: Szymanski has attempted a team-high 18 shots, six more than Cerim Palislamovic (Jacksonville, Fla.) and seven in front of Hurley. Szymanski also leads the team with 10 SOG, one more than Palislamovic
• BETWEEN THE PIPES: Daniel Sessler (Brookfield, Ill.) stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced Tuesday against Gustavus and enters Saturday's showdown with Concordia boasting a 1.81 goals-against-average and .806 save percentage. The sophomore has stopped 50 shots in 632:45. … Sessler stopped all four shots he faced against Simpson on Sept. 11 en route to the first shutout of the season and second of his career
• CAREER-HIGH: Sessler stopped a career-high 12 shots against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday. The effort was five more than his previous career-best of seven — which he equaled three times this season.
• CAREER FIRST, PART II: Jacob Wing (Verona, Wis.) earned his first career win — in his first collegiate start — in the Cardinals' 3-1 win over Edgewood on Sept. 4. Wing made two saves, with the lone goal coming on a penalty kick. … Wing and Connor Petrich (Arden Hills, Minn.) combined on a two-save shutout against Martin Luther on Sept. 6. Wing stopped both shots he faced in 71:38, while Petrich did not face a shot in 18:22 of relief.
• THE END: The Cardinals had their three-game winning streak come to a screeching halt on Sept. 15, as Carleton scored two goals in less than two minutes early in the first half in handing Saint Mary's a 2-1 setback in the teams' conference opener. After opening the season with a 3-0 loss to the University of Dubuque, the Cardinals had answered with wins over Edgewood (3-1), Martin Luther (5-0), and Simpson (1-0).
• STREAKING ALONG: The Cardinals have now put together a three-game winning streak for the second time in three seasons. The last time SMU won four consecutive games was in 2000, when the Cardinals beat Coe (2-1), Central-Iowa (2-0), Loras (2-0), and St. Thomas (1-0).
• OWNERS OF THE SECOND HALF: Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 8-3 after the halftime break. On the flip side, the Cardinals have been outscored 10-4 in the game's first 45 minutes.
• CLOSE CALLS: The Cardinals battled Saint John's to a scoreless deadlock through 90 minutes of regulation on Sept. 18, but the Johnnies would score the game's only goal less than three minutes into the first overtime in dealing SMU a 1-0 setback. It was the third time in the last six months that SMU and SJU have played a game decided by one goal or less. The two teams battled to a 0-0 draw on April 21, 2021, with the Cardinals winning the rematch 2-1 four days later.
• OFFENSIVE RESURGENCE: The Cardinals scored as many goals against Martin Luther on Sept. 6 (5) as they had in all five of their games combined a year ago.
• PERFECTION: With their 5-0 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 6, the Cardinals improved to 6-0-0 all-time against the Knights. Saint Mary's has outscored MLC 21-0 in its six meetings. |
• HUGE FIRST WIN: The Cobbers picked up their first conference win of the season on Tuesday, getting a goal from Telvin Vah — his second of the game — with less than two minutes remaining in regulation to lift the Cobbers to a 2-1 win over Saint John's.
• LUCKY SEVENS: Tuesday's 2-1 win in Saint John's put an end to several streaks for the Cobbers, including a seven-game losing streak. The win also put an end to a seven-game conference losing streak — dating back to a 2-0 win over Macalester on Oct. 11, 2019 — and a seven-game home slide. CC's last home win was a 4-2 win over Hamline on Oct. 5.
• BACK ON TRACK: After opening the season with 5-1 and 3-1 wins over UM-Morris and UW-Superior, respectively, the Cobbers had dropped seven straight — being outscored 23-8 in the process — prior to Tuesday's win over Saint John's
• DOUBLING UP: Telvin Vah scored both of CC's goals against Saint John's Tuesday — it was his second two-goal game of the season, having also found the back of the net twice against UW-Superior on Sept. 4.
• LEADING THE CHARGE: Vah's two goals against Saint John's pushed his team-leading total to six. Vah also leads the Cobbers in assists (4) and points (16). Nate Weaver is second ot Vah with five goals, while Albara Mutleq and T.J. Seidel have each scored twice, and Michael Matthews, Sondrew Rygg, and Mason Weigel have accounted for CC's other goals.
• SAVING THE DAY: Concordia has used three different goalkeepers through 10 games this season, led by Erick Torres, who have compiled a 1.97 goals-against-average and .613 save percentage in 547:09 minutes. Lucas Razidlo (4.00 GAA, .000 save %, 90:00) and Jensen Waltz (4.53 GAA, .357 save %, 178:58) have also seen time between the pipes for the Cobbers. … Torres has made a team-high 12 saves this season.
• SILENCE: The Cobbers have been held to one goal or less in six of their seven losses this season. The exception, a 5-3 loss to St. Scholastica on Sept. 18.
• AS A TEAM: Concordia has scored 18 goals in 10 games, including a season-high five-goal effort in beating UM-Morris 5-1 on Sept. 1. On the flip side, CC's opponents have netted 26 goals — and have scored three or more goals in five of their seven wins.
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