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WINONA, Minn. — It was a tale of two halves for the Saint Mary's University women's soccer team in its nonconference game against the University of Dubuque Friday afternoon at Ochrymowycz Field.

In the first half, the Cardinals offense appeared to be stuck in neutral, failing to register a shot on goal.

Over the game's final 45 minutes, SMU turned up the heat a bit, attempting nine shots — including four that found their way to Spartan goalkeeper Chelsea Hawkins.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, one bad bounce late in the game proved to be their undoing, as Elizabeth Frazier scored on a penalty kick with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to lift the University of Dubuque to a 2-1 victory.

“I thought we played pretty well — especially in the second half,” said SMU coach Neil Cassidy. “We struggled a bit (offensively) in the first half, but made some adjustments at halftime and really put together a pretty solid second half soccer.

“Unfortunately, we got called for a hand ball (in the box) on a bad bounce and that penalty kick proved to be the difference.”

Frazier got the Spartans on the board in the game's 14th minute, scoring her first of the season — and first of the afternoon — and the University of Dubuque made that 1-0 lead hold up into the halftime break.

Bethany Schmidt (Sparta, Wis.) pulled the Cardinals even, deflecting a Katie Holmes (Edina, Minn.) corner kick past Hawkins midway through the second half.

The game would remain tied until the 86th minute, when Frazier beat SMU goalkeeper Miranda Halling (Rochester, Minn.) low to the right side on a penalty kick to give the Spartans the lead for good.

“The early part of the season is a building process for us,” said Cassidy, whose team is back in action on Sunday, hosting Lawrence in a 2 p.m. game at Ochrymowycz Field. “We've played three very good teams — teams that all qualified for their conference tournaments last year — and we are improving with each game we play.”

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