WINONA, Minn. — The last time the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's soccer team opened the season with four straight wins, Sean Butcher (Cave Creek, Ariz.), Charles Reit (Arcadia, Wis.), and the rest of the Cardinals weren't even born yet.
 
Thanks to Butcher, Reit & Co., that all changed Sunday afternoon.
 
Butcher netted a first-half goal and Reit broke a 1-1 deadlock with the game-winner 19 minutes into the second half, as the Cardinals recorded their fourth straight victory, knocking off Nebraska Wesleyan 2-1 in the championship game of the BIG Athletics/Adidas M Club Tournament.
 
"We were very proud of the team's performance—it was fantastic to have a high level of positive energy from our bench and the stands," said Saint Mary's coach Corbin Bowers, who also wasn't born yet the last time the Cardinals opened 4-0-0. "Our guys were hungry to get two wins this weekend, and it really showed. Even after conceding a late goal in the first half, we collected ourselves and chased after the win."

The Cardinals—who last opened the year 4-0-0 in 1986, when Saint Mary's beat
Viterbo (3-1), St. Scholastica (2-0), St. Norbert (3-2), and Viterbo (2-0)—got on the board first in the 20^th minute, as Butcher took a feed from Josh Balsiger (Camas, Wash.) and beat NWU goalkeeper Jack Nespor for his third goal of the season.
 
The Prairie Wolves would knot the game at 1-1 before the half ended, but Reit gave the Cardinals the lead for good, finding the back of the net for the second time this season—bending a direct kick over the NWU wall and into the upper left-hand corner.
 
Nate Levy (Byron, Minn.) earned the win in goal for Saint Mary's, stopping four shots—including a diving save to rob the Prairie Wolves of the game-tying goal in the second half—while Nespor finished with one save.
 
The Cardinals kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 4 p.m. showdown against St. Thomas