INDIANOLA, Iowa — Amy Sibik (Onalaska, Wis.) has been the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team's leading scorer in each of her first two seasons as a Cardinal.

And the junior forward has already made a strong bid for a three-peat.

Sibik scored her first goal of the season, and assisted on the gamer-winner, as the Cardinals got their season off to a roaring start with a 2-1 nonconference victory over Simpson Friday evening.

“It was exactly the type of season opener I was hoping for,” said SMU coach Eric Zimmerman. “This was a good win against a quality opponent.”

Sibik wasted little time getting the Cardinals on the board, netting an unassisted tally just seven minutes into the opening half. SMU would hold that 1-0 lead until the 54-minute mark, when Dana Winkler (Lake Geneva, Wis.) took a feed from Sibik and beat Simpson goalkeeper Jessica Toyne to give the Cardinals a two-goal cushion.

Simpson would make things interesting late in the second half, as Katherine Bird banged a rebound past SMU goalkeeper Mariana Sanchez (Puebla, Mexico) with less than 11 minutes remaining in regulation.

That, however, would be the only goal the Storm would get off Sanchez & Co., as SMU handed Simpson it second straight setback.

“I thought we put together a very dominating performance,” said Zimmerman, whose team is back in action Saturday, traveling to Pella, Iowa, for a 4 p.m. nonconference game against Central-Iowa. “We played very physical — something we didn't do at all last year — we dominated time of possession and we moved the ball around very well.