WINONA, Minn. — St. Scholastica may be new to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, but they are no strangers to a winning tradition.
 
The Saints left the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference after last season — leaving behind 18 regular-season UMAC titles and 10 UMAC Tournament crowns.
 
And Wednesday afternoon, the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team saw first-hand that those titles were no fluke.
 
St. Scholastica scored a pair of first-half goals, and the Saints' smothering defense stymied the Cardinals for the entire 90-minute contest, as CSS dealt Saint Mary's a 2-0 setback in the teams' first meeting as conference foes.
 
The Saints struck early with a goal from Finnegan Huffington in the 24th minute, and, seven minutes later, Nolan Friday found the back of the net to give CSS what proved to be an insurmountable two-goal advantage.
 
Saint Mary's had several good offensive chances — finding the net of five of their six shots ­— but CSS goalkeeper Liam Lothian was up to the challenge, thwarting SMU's every chance. Daniel Sessler (Brookfield, Ill.), meanwhile, was busy between the pipes for the Cardinals, equaling his career high with seven saves.
 
The Cardinals (0-3-0 MIAC, 3-4-0 overall) are back in action on Saturday as they travel Eau Claire, Wis., for a 6 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire.