WINONA, Minn. — What a difference a day makes.
In this case, three days.
Less than 72 hours after struggling to do anything right in a lopsided loss to St. Catherine, the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team put it all together Sunday afternoon — giving the home crowd more than enough to cheer about — as the Cardinals dealt visiting Gustavus a 3-0 setback in SMU's home finale at Ochrymowycz Field.
With the win, the Cardinals put an end to a nine-game winless streak against the Gusties (0-7-2), dating back to a 1-0, double-overtime win on Sept. 29, 2010. …
Jordyn Matthews (Seattle, Wash.) gave the Cardinal offense an instant boost with her team-leading third goal of the season 14 minutes into the opening half. The Cardinals would maintain that one-goal advantage through the remainder of the first half and the first 22 minutes of the second.
After missing out on two golden scoring changes early in the second half —
Mary Loy (Burien, Wash.) was robbed by GAC goalkeeper Abby Goodno from point-blank range 10 minutes into the frame, and Goodno made a spectacular diving stop to take a goal away from
Kassie Arriaga (Chula Vista, Calif.) — Saint Mary's finally netted goal No. 2, this one off the foot of
Kaley Manglitz (Onalaska, Wis.) in the 67th minute.
Nicole Thompson (Riverside, Calif.) gave Saint Mary's a little more breathing room with her first of the season just five minutes after Manglitz's first tally of the year, pushing the lead to 3-0.
And three goals was more than enough with
Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) between the pipes, as the sophomore goalkeeper stopped both GAC shots she faced en route to her first collegiate, complete-game shutout.
The Cardinals (3-2-1 overall) close out their pandemic-shortened season on Friday, traveling to St. Olaf's Rolf Mellby Field in Northfield, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. game against the Oles.
