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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's soccer coach Pete Watkins has said on a number of occasions that soccer is a funny game.

After Sunday's nonconference game against Lawrence, however, the Cardinal head coach wasn't laughing.

The Vikings took advantage of an SMU defensive lapse, scoring the game's only goal in the 29th minute, as Lawrence handed the Cardinals a 1-0 setback at Ochrymowycz Field.

“Soccer can be a funny game — and we proved that this weekend,” said Watkins, whose team took advantage of a Concordia-Chicago own goal to beat the Cougars 1-0 on Saturday. “We catch a big break late (against Concordia-Chicago) and come away with a win, and then we have one defensive letdown (against Lawrence) and they make us pay.

“I didn't think we played particularly well in the first half — we have to make sure that we are dialed in and focused from minute one,” Watkins added. “You win a soccer game after 90 minutes, but you can lose a game at any second — and we learned that the hard way today.”

Cameron Pieper scored his first goal of the season at 29:12, taking a feed from Joe Cullen and beating SMU goalkeeper Christian Van Dam (Livonia, Mich.) with what proved to be the game's only goal.

Lawrence had a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 early in the second half, but Joey Petrich (Elk River, Minn.) — on in relief of Van Dam — made a diving save off a Viking free kick to keep it a one-goal game.

SMU had a great scoring chance late in the second half, but back-to-back headers by Jacob Bina (West Salem, Wis.) and Krystian Drozdz (Franklin Park, Ill.) off a Kameron McKeeth (Woodstock, Ga.) corner kick failed to find the back of the net.

The Cardinals (2-2-0 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, kicking off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 7 p.m. game against St. Thomas at Ochrymowycz Field.

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