ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — If there was one thing that could be said about the Saint Mary's University and Saint Benedict women's soccer teams most recent get-togethers, it's that the Cardinals and Bennies were most certainly fit to be tied.
 
Saint Mary's and Saint Benedict entered Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal having battled to double-overtime ties in each of their last two meetings — including a 0-0 stalemate earlier this season.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there would be no need for any overtime periods — and, there would be no third straight draw — as Saint Benedict erupted for three first-half goals, and held off a furious Saint Mary's second-half surge, in dealing SMU a 3-2 setback to earn a spot opposite regular-season champion St. Catherine in Saturday's conference tournament title game.

"We have never been more proud of a team — these players are warriors," said SMU coach Nick Rizzo, whose team was making its first-ever MIAC Tournament appearance — and was coming off a penalty kick win over St. Scholastica in Monday's quarterfinal round. "To be down like that and fight back is something you don't see too often.
 
"We could not have asked anything more of this group."

Unlike their first meeting this season, Roxy Veldman made sure early on that Wednesday's rematch would not be a scoreless affair, as the Bennie senior found the back of the net less than three minutes into the opening half to give Saint Benedict the early 1-0 lead.
 
And one early-game goal wasn't enough for the Bennies, who pushed their lead to 2-0 before the contest was even 12 minutes old, as SMU goalkeeper Alexis Nguyen (West Covina, Calif.) stopped a shot by CSB's Ella Young, only to have the rebound bounce right to Clara Novack, who deposited the ball into the empty net.
 
Saint Benedict would tack on a third tally with just under three minutes to play in the first half on a goal by Sydney Burns, giving the Bennies what appeared to be a commanding three-goal cushion heading into the break.
 
The Cardinals turned up the heat in the second half, dominating play from the get-go, and finally breaking through in the 67th minute, when Elisia Jensen (Gig Harbor, Wash.) — who netted the win-clinching shootout PK in SMU's quarterfinal victory over St. Scholastica — got Saint Mary's on the board with her fourth goal of the season.
 
Nine minutes later, the Cardinals had clawed within one, as Jensen scored her second of the game to whittle the Saint Benedict lead to 3-2.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as time ran on out on their spectacular second-half rally — and their season.
 
Nguyen finished with three saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Annie Waters stopped both Cardinal shots she faced in the first half, and Paige Kahlmeyer finished with seven second-half saves for the Bennies.
 
The Cardinals, the tournament's No. 3 seed after finishing third in the MIAC regular-season standings with a 7-3-1 record — close out the season with a 13-5-2 overall record, the most wins since SMU finished the 2005 campaign 13-5-0.