ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team entered Thursday's nonconference game against Crown in a rather foul mood.
 
Being held without a goal in back-to-back games will do that to a team.
 
And the Cardinals took out their offensive frustrations on the host Storm early—scoring a pair of goals in the game's first 25 minutes—en route to a 2-1 victory.
 
Josh Balsinger (Camas, Wash.) got the Cardinals on the board early in the first half, as the Saint Mary's freshman netted his first collegiate goal in the game's 20^th minute.
 
Three minutes later, Adam Estrada (Belvidere, Ill.) joined the career-first parade, scoring his first as a Cardinal to give Saint Mary's a commanding 2-0 advantage.
 
Saint Mary's would maintain that two-goal cushion until the 83^rd minute, when Crown's Cristian Olarte broke through the cut the Cardinal lead in half, 2-1.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would let the Storm get in putting an end to their three-game losing streak.
 
Saint Mary's goalkeeper Alberto Centeno (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) finished with four saves in recording his second win of the season—before giving way to Michael Maniak (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.) for the final 17:27. Maniak collected two saves in his first appearance between the pipes for the Cardinals.
 
Crown goalkeeper Justin Lao, meanwhile, stopped four of Saint Mary's six shots on goal.
 
The Cardinals (7-7-1 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, hosting sixth-ranked and league-leading St. Thomas in a 6 p.m. matchup at Ochrymowycz Field.