WINONA, Minn. - Before Ripon's women's soccer team finishes its conference season this weekend, they played Saint Mary's (Minn.) on Wednesday, losing to the Cardinals by a score of 5-3.

Saint Mary's (8-9-0) broke a scoreless tie in the 14th minute on Marua Michener's 11th goal of the season. Six minutes later, SMU scored again off the foot of Maddy Wallraff, who found the back of the net for the third time this season. Ripon (7-9-1) didn't take long to answer, as Paige Pierce scored her 15th goal of the season. Camrie Schmitz added another goal, her 10th of the year, just before halftime to cut SMU's lead to one at the break.

Saint Mary's got some breathing room early in the second half when Mackenzie Waters scored her third goal of the season. Three minutes later, Pierce scored her second goal of the game and conference-leading 16th of the season, which moves her into seventh place in school history for a single season, cutting Saint Mary's lead to one. The Cardinals would score an insurance goal in the final minutes to cap the scoring.

The Red Hawks will close out their regular season Saturday at Monmouth College at 1:30 p.m., with LiveStats available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/monmouth/. Ripon can clinch a spot in the 2018 MWC Tournament with a win or if St. Norbert wins at least one of their two games this weekend.