WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University men's soccer team stepped onto the field Saturday afternoon for its season finale against Hamline, the Cardinals were sitting on the opposite end of the offensive spectrum from the Pipers.
After all, the Cardinals entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown have been shut out in its last two games — losses to Carleton and Macalester — while the Pipers were coming off back-to-back wins over Beloit and Buena Vista in which they outscored the pair 10-0.
Saint Mary's silenced that vaunted HU offense, with SMU goalkeeper
Daniel Sessler (Brookfield, Ill.) stopping all eight Piper shots he faced.
Problem was, the Cardinal offense remained in a late-season deep-freeze, coming up empty for a third straight game, as the two teams battled to a 90-minute, 0-0 draw — marking the third time this season SMU has settled for a scoreless deadlock.
Sessler did his part between the pipes for the Cardinals, stopped all four shots he faced in each half en route to his fifth shutout of the season — and eighth of his illustrious career.
Unfortunately, HU goalkeeper Luke Rimington was just as stingy in goal for the Pipers, finishing with a four-save shutout.
The Cardinals close out their first season under head coach
John Pucci with a 6-6-5 overall record, including a 2-5-3 mark in 10 conference games. SMU's five ties are the most since 1994, when the Cardinals played to six deadlocks in finishing 4-7-6 overall.
