NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Season-opening streaks were on the line when the Saint Mary's University and Carleton women's soccer teams squared off Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Cardinals entered the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener having won its first five games — without allowing a single goal.
 
Carleton, meanwhile, was unbeaten in its first four contests of 2021, parlaying two wins and a pair of ties into a season-opening four-game unbeaten streak.
 
Ninety minutes later, two streaks were still intact — both belonging to the Cardinals.
 
Saint Mary's scored the game's only goal early in the first half and made that goal stand up en route to its sixth consecutive shutout win, a 1-0 victory over the Knights at Bell Field.
 
Statistically, the Knights had the upper hand in the game's opening 45 minutes, holding an 11-5 advantage in shots and a 5-4 edge in shots on goal.
 
Yet it was the Cardinals who netted the only goal of the first half, as Haddy Falkman (Waconia, Minn.) continued her torrid start to the season, netting her sixth of the season — an unassisted tally in the 11th minute — to give Saint Mary's the 1-0 advantage.
 
An advantage the Cardinals would not relinquish — thanks in part to the play of SMU goalkeeper Alexis Nguyen (West Corvina, Calif.) between the pipes.
 
Nguyen stopped a career-high six shots en route to her third shutout of the season and fourth of her collegiate career.
 
The Cardinals (1-0-0 MIAC, 6-0-0) — owners of the program's longest season-opening winning streak since 2005, when SMU opened with a program-record eight consecutive wins — return to conference action on Saturday, entertaining Saint Benedict in a 3:30 p.m. contest at Ochrymowycz Field.