WINONA, Minn. — St. Olaf entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team having scored three or more goals in all seven wins this season, while on the flip side, St. Olaf had managed just three goals—combined—in its six losses.
 
In other words, the Cardinals' game plan was simple: Silence the Oles' offense.
 
And for nearly 56 minutes, that's exactly what they did.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, St. Olaf's quick-strike offense scored a pair of goals in a six-minute span early in the second half and the Cardinals never recovered in falling to the Oles 2-1 at Ochrymowycz Field.
 
The two teams battled to a scoreless deadlock through the game's first 45 minutes, with Cardinal goalkeeper Evan Claffy (Joliet, Ill.) stopping both St. Olaf shots, while Ole netminder Randall Rude recording one save on one shot.
 
St. Olaf broke the stalemate at 55:57, as Jens Undlin beat Claffy off an assist from Henrik Kowalkowski. The Oles would make it 2-0 six minutes later when Tylor Rosera found the back of the net off a Brenden Johnson corner kick.
 
Cody Balogh (Batavia, Ill.) got the Cardinals on the board by converting a penalty kick, but with just 14 seconds remaining on the clock, it was too little, too late for Saint Mary's.
 
Claffy finished with four saves in goal for the Cardinals, while Rude made a pair of saves on three Cardinal shots.
 
Saint Mary's (0-6-2 MIAC, 4-8-2 overall) steps out of conference play on Wednesday, hosting Martin Luther in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at Ochrymowycz Field.