PORTLAND, Ore. – A first half offensive explosion by the Saints, two goals by Alexis Lopez and one by Cayman John, was what was needed as Saint Martin's went on the road and defeated Concordia 3-1.
 
Picking up three critical points in the GNAC, the Saints (4-7-0, 2-3-0) quickly jumped on their opponent Concordia (3-5-1, 1-3-0), followed by a shutout in the second half to secure the win. John scored first, quickly followed by Lopez to put SMU up 2-0. A penalty kick by the Cavaliers trimmed the lead down to one before Lopez netted his second goal of the half, in what proved to be enough insurance for the win.
 
After 20 minutes of mostly quiet soccer, John kicked things off with his second goal of the season in the 23rd minute. On a ball from Sebastian Navarro, John, roughly 20 yards away from the goal, connected to the top right of the goal for a 1-0 lead. Just minutes later, Alexis Lopez, assisted by John, found his angle from 15 yards out, hitting the top right as well to give SMU a 2-0 lead. Only 44 seconds later, the Cavaliers were awarded a penalty kick, which resulted in a goal and cut the lead to one. The Saints found an answer in the form of Lopez once again, as he scored his third goal of the year, assisted by Steven Chu, and sent SMU into halftime with a 3-1 lead.
 
Griffin Small and the Saints' back line faced 14 shots on the day, while Small made five saves. Concordia continued to mount pressure in the second half, looking to cut into the Saints' lead; however, the defense never wavered. Concordia's offense never found its second or third goal and the match ended with the Saints' 3-1 victory.
 
"Tonight's match featured some really good pieces of soccer from us," said head coach Rob Walker. "Some really great goals and some great chances. We have to give credit to Concordia for keeping us under pressure in both halves of the game. They had some good chances as well and we thought we dealt with them nicely."
 
John led the team in shots with three, followed by Lopez, Navarro and Brandon Madsen with two each. Jason Fairhurst, Nick Phillips and Jose Marquez each collected one shot in the match as well.
 
The Saints get the weekend off before traveling to Montana State Billing next Thursday, October 11. The match is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. PST with live stats and video available on smusaints.com.