Men's Soccer Shows Good Effort in Loss to St. Mary's University

SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 6, 2024) - The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's soccer team fell to NCAA D2 St. Mary's University (StMU) 3-1 in a nonconferene game on Thursday night. The Saints are now 1-3 on the season while the Rattlers open the season at 1-0.

The Saints are 1-5 against the Rattlers. The last time the two teams met was was in 2021, when the Saints lost 3-0.

Head Coach Shane Hurley said, "Can't take anything away from StMU. They are a strong team and program. We are taking some of the right steps to get there, mentally and physically. For the most part, I'm pleased with the efforts of the team; however, there are still some individual and collective concepts and expectations in the game that we must make rapid improvement upon."

The Saints struggled in the first half with two shots. The Rattlers totaled 11 shots with three on goal. They also took four corner kicks while not allowing a corner by the Saints. Dominic Pena made two saves and allowed a goal by the Rattlers at the 27th minute. Gael Gallegos scored for StMU with a goal to the bottom left corner. Cristian Govea Mireles and Nicolás Murgas took the shots for the Saints. 

Cade Ryan evened the match just four minutes into the second half with an assist from Thiago Fernandes. He scored with a shot to the bottom right of the goal. The Rattlers took the lead again at the 57th minute and another goal put them up by two goals at the 66th minute mark. 

Pena finished with eight saves. Angel Diaz picked up the win in net for the Rattlers with four saves. 

Four different Saints players had one shot on goal. Pena, Carlos Alvarez, Tim Talabi and Stan Driessen all played 90 minutes. 

What's next

The Saints take on the University of the Incarnate Word on the road on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.