NAMPA, Idaho – After an even matched first half and the scored locked at 0-0, Westminster used two quick goals out of halftime to silence the Saints and powered their way to a 3-1 victory in the season opener.
Saint Martin's (0-1-0) and Westminster (1-0-0) nearly matched on all stats in the first half, both with three shots, the Saints with three saves to the Griffons' two. The second half was different theme, as the Griffons outshot the Saints nine to three and scored three straight goals.
Brandon Madsen scored the lone SMU goal in the 79th minute, picking up right where he left off in 2017.
"It's a little early in the season to be looking for silver linings in the dark cloud of the result," said head coach
Rob Walker. "We were impressed with
Brady Trullinger,
Brandon Kam and
Treyson Ramos, who all made their debuts as Saints players today."
The Saints took two quick shots on goal to open the match, but only recorded one shot in next 43 minutes of the half.
Griffin Small managed a clean half at goal, stopping all three Westminster shots on goal.
However, the Griffons wasted no time in the second half to gain control, scoring in the both the 47th minute and 50th minute. The final blow came in the 78th minute after Westminster recorded their three straight goal of the match.
SMU quickly struck back in the form of the GNAC goals leader from last year, with Madsen connecting for his first of the season. Madsen scored on a penalty kick and gave the Saints some light. Westminster managed to stem the tide and secure the 3-1 victory in the season opener.
"The goals we gave up were well constructed by Westminster but definitely with some physical adjustments, cut those down in a hurry," said Walker. "There's definitely a difference in the level of competition and the speed of play coming out of our preseason that we dealt with today. So, with due respect to our previous opponents, we will step our game up and play better against a very good Cal State LA team on Saturday."
Madsen was responsible for four of the Saints' six shots in the match, with three landing on target.
Oscar Aguilar and
Jose Marquez each connected on a shot.
Dylan Shaw came in to goal at halftime, making three saves but allowed all three goals.
The Saints will have 24 hours before their next match as they face CSU Los Angeles at 11:30 a.m. on the campus of Northwest Nazarene in a neutral site game. Live stats of the game can be found on smusaints.com.
