ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Saint Mary's men's soccer team closed out their season against the Hamline Pipers Saturday afternoon and finished the season on top with a 2-1 victory.
 
The Pipers took advantage of their home field advantage by applying early pressure on the Cardinals as they recorded three corner kicks and a shot within the first 12 minutes of play. Thomas Laaksonen took the Cardinals first shot of the game at the 15^th minute, soaring just high.
 
The Cardinals played on the defense a majority of the match as they were denying multiple Piper attempts.
 
Hard work pays off! The Cardinals took advantage of a lazy pass in the backfield and Diego Giles got his defender jumping on all of his moves and took a beautiful across the body shot that landed in the left corner of the net. The Cardinals took the lead at the 31^st minute!
 
The Cardinals got more aggressive as their confidence grew landing them another shot attempt and a corner before the half.
 
The Pipers came out eager to put a goal in the back of the net as they kept finding themselves in the Cardinals back field and earned themselves the first goal for the Pipers at the 55^th minute to tie the game.
 
Less than 30 seconds later, the Cardinals responded with another goal of their own to take yet another lead. Mason Mueller, the Winona native, scored his second goal of the season as he made a move at the right side of the box and found the back of the net, high at the 56^th minute.
 
The Cardinals played the final 20 minutes a man down with a player recording a red card. This did not stop the Cardinals from fighting on. Saint Mary's wanted to end their season on a high note and packed in their defense and only allowed four shots on goal in the second half.
 
Sessler ended his goal keeping career with four saves for the Cardinals win.