WINONA, Minn. — The beat goes on for the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team — and what a tune the Cardinals' have been playing.
 
Saint Mary's ran its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference unbeaten streak to five — maintaining its stranglehold on the lead in the conference standings in the process — with its 1-0 win over Concordia Saturday afternoon at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The win not only moved the Cardinals to a league-leading 4-0-1 in five MIAC contests, but it also pushed their overall record to 9-1-1 — their best 11-game start since 1994, when SMU also opened 9-1-1.
 
Win No. 9 was anything but easy, however.
 
After battling to a scoreless deadlock for more than 86 minutes — and coming up empty on numerous scoring opportunities — the Cardinals finally cashed in, as Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) scored the game's only goal, an assisted tally with 3:11 on the clock, to lift the Cardinals to the victory.
 
Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) did what she's done virtually all season, stopping both Cobber shots she faced en route to her sixth shutout of the season. The junior goalkeeper has allowed just one goal all season — boasting a conference-best 0.12 goals-against-average and stopping 32 of the 33 shots she's faced in 771:26 minutes.  
 
The Cardinals step out of conference play on Wednesday, welcoming UW-River Falls to Ochrymowycz Field for a 6 p.m. nonconference matchup.