WINONA, Minn. — It may have been All "Saints" Day, but Monday was all about the Cardinals.
 
Despite dominating from start-to-finish, the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team could not buy a goal through 90 minutes of regulation and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal against St. Scholastica.
 
But when the game was truly on the line — and every shot could be the difference between a win and a loss — the Cardinals could not miss.
 
After 110 minutes of scoreless post-season soccer, Saint Mary's scored on all four of its attempts in the penalty kick shootout to beat the Saints 4-1 and earn a berth opposite second-seeded Saint Benedict on Wednesday in St. Joseph, Minn.
 
"As a staff, we could not be more proud of our performance," said Saint Mary's coach Nick Rizzo. "We were dialed in for 110 minutes and demonstrated an incredible amount of grit and fight.
 
"Every single player brought their 'A' game tonight and contributed to a historic result for our program. We are excited to advance to the semifinals and believe we have an opportunity to do something truly special with this group of players."
 
The Cardinals may have been playing in their first-ever MIAC Tournament, but you would never have known by their performance on the field.
 
The Cardinals came out and put on a shooting clinic against the Saints, holding a commanding 20-4 advantage in shots — including an 11-2 edge in shots on goal.
 
Problem was, Saint Mary's couldn't get any of those 11 shots on goal past CSS goalkeeper Taelynn Gittins, who thwarted the Cardinals at every turn — stopping seven first-half SMU shots, while making two saves in both the second half and the first overtime.
 
With the score deadlocked at 0-0 after regulation and two overtimes — and a victor still undetermined — Monday's game would come down to penalty kicks.
 
And the Cardinals were unstoppable from 12 yards out.
 
Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) — the Cardinals' leading scorer this season with 10 goals — converted on SMU's first attempt, and after Morgan Friday knotted the score 1-1, Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) and Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.) sandwiched SMU goals around a CSS miss for a 3-1 advantage.
 
Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) stopped the Saints' third attempt, and SMU freshman Elise Jensen (Gig Harbor, Wash.) calmly sealed the victory with the Cardinals' fourth straight PK goal.