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ST. PAUL – Even with the familiar faces gone, the St. Scholastica men's soccer team came out strong and defeated Macalester College 2-1 to open the 2011 season on Thursday night.

This is the second consecutive victory for the Saints at Macalester and now has a 4-5-1 record all-time against the Scots. Macalester is the preseason favorite to win the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), receiving four first-place votes.

The Saints, who lost 71-percent of their scoring and only returned five starters from the NCAA Tournament team a year ago, put on the pressure early and it paid off in the 24th minute when freshman Kyle Farrar (Sevenoaks, England/Kelsey Park Sports College) scored his first collegiate goal. Brandon Stemwedel (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) had the assist

Stemwedel then made it a 2-0 Saints lead in second half after intercepting a pass, breaking past the defense and flipping it by the 'keeper in the 62nd minute.

The Scots quickly answered less than three minutes later when Robin Forslund scored off a corner to make it 2-1.

Things got a bit chippy after that with four cards displayed (two yellow, two red) in the final 17 minutes, however the Saints prevailed 2-1.

Sam Reed (Eastbourne, England/Causeway School) had seven saves to earn his 41st career victory. Reed needs just six more to tie the program record. Matt Weyer had one save in the loss for the Scots. Macalester doubled up the Saints in shots, 16-8, and had a 15-2 advantage in corners.

The Saints will have their home opener on Monday when they face Carleton College on Saints Field. Action is scheduled to get underway at 4:30 p.m. and can be seen live on GameCentral at csssaints.com.