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Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CARDINAL ATHLETICS
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Judd Stanislawski, DriftlessWaters Photography

Cardinals excited for tourney appearance

10/31/2021 4:05:00 PM

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's soccer team may be considered the underdogs going into their first-ever Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Monday. 
 
But these "Comeback Cardinals" are used to defying the odds.
 
"I'm just so proud of this group," said head coach Nick Rizzo, who took over during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and inherited a team that had won nine MIAC games — combined — in the previous nine years and had not finished higher than ninth in the conference standings over that same nine-year period. "For the seniors, this season is a culmination of the work that they have put in both on and off the field. They have definitely left their mark on the program. For the rest of the group, they have also helped to raise the standard of Saint Mary's women's soccer.
 
"We have asked so much of this team, and they always answer the call. Now, we are just going to ask a bit more of them next week."
 
"It feels pretty surreal," said senior Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) — one of eight who are playing their final season with the Cardinals. "Getting to the postseason is something we have had set as a goal every year, and since I've been here, I have felt us inching closer and closer. 
 
The Cardinals will take on  St. Scholastica Monday afternoon and believe their motto of "one game at a time" will serve them well.
 
"It's so exciting, but also definitely a challenge to not get too ahead of ourselves and take it one game at a time," Matthews added. "I finally feel like people are starting to recognize how much talent we have and that Saint Mary's is not to be taken lightly anymore."
 
Saint Mary's heads into conference tournament play sporting a 13-4-1 overall record and a third-place finish in the regular-season conference standings. 
 
"From my first year to now, our conference record has improved with each season, leading to us to grow as a team, and making us realize there is no reason Saint Mary's couldn't be one of the top teams in the conference," said senior Dara Kaiser (Bozeman, Mont.). "Once we started asking, 'Why not us?' it became clear that this is something we all wanted and could all make happen with hard work."
 
The Cardinals have used a lethal 1-2 punch of a stingy, air-tight defense and a high-octane offense all season long — boasting one of the nation's lowest goals-against-average, while leading the conference in goals, assists, and points.
 
Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) and Matthews have been the straws that have stirred the Cardinal offense, while goalkeeper Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) and a stable full of dominant defenders have spearheaded a lock-down defense that has allowed just nine goals all season — and has surrendered more than one goal in a game just twice in 18 contests.
 
But this team isn't built on just two or three players — it's been a total team effort.
 
"This team has an extremely close bond," senior Lindsey Monnet (Rochester, Minn.) said. "I know it's cliche, but it's true — we're like a family. Everyone has a role on this team, and they're all vitally important for our overall success."
 
Matthews could not agree more.
 
"I truly believe our on-field success is due in large part to our family culture," she said. "A team can have an abundance of talent, but if they are not connected, it will not work. We are so connected, and it shows on the field. We have such depth on this team — and so much talent — that we are able to constantly play with a very high level of talent and energy."
 
There's no question it will take every family member — a total team effort — for Saint Mary's in its tournament-opener against St. Scholastica. To Rizzo, however, this next step in the Cardinals' journey is as easy as pie.
 
"We have talked to our team all season about how any big task looks and feels daunting — making the MIAC Tournament, competing for a title, trying to make a playoff run all feel daunting if you just look at the whole," Rizzo said. "We used a reference to eating a whole pie. If you just look at the whole thing, it might feel impossible. But if you break it down, and just focus on one piece at a time, it won't feel as intimidating. That is how we are approaching our season — just focus on the next game and eating that next piece of pie."
 
That next piece of pie the Cardinals are eager devour — St. Scholastica — has also never been to the MIAC Tournaments — this being their first year in the conference. But the Saints are no strangers to post-season appearances. In their former conference, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), the Saints won 15 UMAC Tournament titles — including eight since 2011 — and have advanced to 10 NCAA Division III Tournaments.
 
"To be honest, I don't have a ton of concerns," Rizzo said. "Soccer is a weird sport where anything can happen on any day. We are playing with house money at this point. No one probably expected us to be here at this juncture of the season. We still are able to go into every game and be the underdogs, and we have definitely embraced that role."
 
The Cardinals are confident that their 2021 success is a message the league has heard loud and clear.
 
"To this day, it has not sunk in yet how far we have come and how every year we have advanced more and more into reaching our ultimate goal," said senior Kassie Arriaga. "I believe women's soccer has not been irrelevant, but the success this year has made people more excited about it."
 
Kaiser takes it a step further.
 
"After three years of struggles, and now being near the top of the MIAC, I think most of the team feels sort of  'See? We told you so,' because our team has always been strong, we've just been dealt some tough hands," said Kaiser. "Our season records over the past few years have not always represented how many close, or overtime, games we ended up losing or the growth we made from the first game of the season to the last. 
 
"We have always believed we have had the capability to do something special, and this season we are finally seeing that success," Kaiser added. "That being said, we have never been a team that focuses too much on results, so we have just been taking care of what needs to be done, having fun playing the sport we all love, and it has ended up with us finishing in a good place."
 
 
 

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