BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The CUA men’s soccer team is going back to the postseason after the Cardinals ran their unbeaten streak to nine matches with a 1-0 victory at Moravian on Saturday.  Freshman Ian Smith scored the goal for CUA in the 60th minute as the Cardinals run their record to 10-5-3.

CUA took 11 shots to the Greyhounds two and was awarded 13 corner kicks to Moravian’s three.  Quinn Daly earned the win in goal for CUA as he stopped two shots, while Greyhounds keeper Tim Dollarton sent back two shots in his 90 minutes of work.

“In the first half Moravian came out and really put the pressure on us,” Cardinals head coach Travis Beauchamp said afterwards.  “I thought they had the better chances in the early going.”

He continued, “Once we got going in the second half we really settled down and started to control more of the action.  The ten minutes leading up to, and the ten minutes following our goal I thought we had some good chances and (Ian) Smith made a really nice play on the goal.”

Moravian took a shot just 12 seconds into the match, but Daly stopped Jeffrey Algor’s chance.  The Cardinals did not register a shot until 26 minutes had elapsed when Duffy’s attempt went high.

Soon after, Duffy had another try, but this one sailed left, keeping the score knotted at zero.  Earl Hamilton got a shot off at the 34:40 mark for CUA, but it was saved, while Hal Cogan’s attempt at the 37:55 mark went wide.  That wound up being the final attempt of the first 45 minutes, sending the teams into halftime tied 0-0.

Smith was awarded a corner kick just seconds into the second half for CUA, and he played the ball to Pete Wawrzusin, whose shot went high.  Two minutes later, Mike Brennan broke free for a shot, but his attempt was saved.

At the 58:46 mark Matt Hofrichter played the ball in for the Cardinals on a corner kick and it eventually worked its way around to Duffy.  The CUA captain played the ball underneath to Smith, who held off two defenders and fired a shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 Cardinals lead.

“There is always a natural tendency to sort of let up a bit after you score,” Beauchamp said.  “But our guys didn’t let that happen today.  They knew what was at stake and they just kept battling.”

The CUA defense did more than just battle; it completely shut down the Greyhounds.  Moravian was unable to get a shot off in the final 38 minutes of action and the Cardinals offense continued to stay on the attack, constantly keeping pressure on the Greyhounds.

As the game neared its conclusion, Beauchamp shifted the Cardinals into a more defensive minded setup, and it paid off with the team’s third conference win of the season and a spot in the conference tournament.

“At this point we’ve had our backs up against the wall for basically the last month,” Beauchamp explained.  “We know Wednesday is going to be a tough match, but we’ve been in this situation before and know what’s at stake.”

He added, “Even though we were under a lot of pressure today because we knew we had to win, I thought we were very composed.  Our guys didn’t get frustrated when we were unable to get a goal in the first half and that was great to see.  They kept at it and eventually got one.  (Wednesday) is shaping up to be a good match.” 

CUA will now travel to take on top-seeded Susquehanna on Wednesday evening in the semifinals of the 2010 Landmark Conference Tournament.  Match time is slated for 7:00.