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WINONA, Minn. — A hard-fought, well-played game turned out to be a heartbreaking loss for the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team Wednesday evening, as the Cardinals suffered a 1-0, double-overtime setback at the hands of UW-La Crosse at Ochrymowycz Field.

“It's hard to take,” coach Neil Cassidy said. “The whole team knows it's hard to take when you do so well — it's just a difficult loss.”

Though a hard loss to take, Cassidy was proud of how well his team played.

“As a team we did really well,” Cassidy said. “There's no question as to how the girls approached this game and they held themselves to a high regard.

“They did not deserve that loss — they did not deserve it.”

UW-La Crosse's Saskia Taylor accounted for the game's only goal with less the four minutes remaining in the second overtime, as she connected on a pass from Jamie Wiepz.

Cardinal goalkeeper Cassie Hulett (Milwaukee, Wis.) made six saves on the night, while Teri Valenzuela (Morton Grove, Ill.) led the way for the Cardinals with seven shots.

“We've got a lot we can build upon,” Cassidy said. “We treat this as a game we can learn from. And I think we learned from it. We deserve a lot more than the loss.

“I definitely think we have a lot to take from this.”

The Cardinals are back in action Saturday afternoon in the second of back-to-back home games, as they take on Bethel in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown at 1 p.m. at Ochrymowycz Field.

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