Box Score
SAN ANTONIO —
Claire Etter was greeted with a Gatorade shower after Women's Soccer shut down Texas A&M International Monday, 5-0.
As a senior defender, Etter's (Sr., Boerne, Texas) opportunity to net the first goal of her Rattler career finally developed Monday in the Rattlers' first home game on the new Sigma Beta Chi field as she was chosen for a penalty kick in the second half.
Etter's penalty kick was blocked, but the 6-foot-0 defender reacted quickly, punching in the deflected ball that caused a wild celebration from the Rattlers and Etter herself for her first collegiate goal.
"They (my team) got excited because I never score," said Etter of the excitement surrounding her goal. "I wasn't expecting it (Gatorade shower). I was super excited because I thought I was going to miss. I thought I had blown it. And then I got it."
Etter's goal in the 69
th minute sparked a four-goal second half for the Rattlers, propelling them to a 5-0 victory.
Lauren Peck (So., San Antonio) netted first for the Rattlers in the first frame and after Etter's thrilling goal, there was no stopping St. Mary's.
Kristal Williams (Fr., Ponder, Texas) netted on an unassisted strike for her fourth goal on the season in the 73
rd minute and it was
Brianna Shafer (So., Castroville, Texas) who recorded the final two goals of the game for her fifth and sixth goals on the season. Shafer was assisted by
Kaitie Kasperitis (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) in the 82
nd minute and scored off a cross from
Amanda Cardoza (Sr., El Paso, Texas) in the final 30 seconds of the match.
But it wasn't only the Rattlers' offense that made for the strong victory. The Rattlers' defense held the Dustdevils (2-12, 2-5 in conference) to just three shots for the game and denied them from taking a shot throughout the entire first frame.
St. Mary's on the other hand fired away with 25 shots on the game with 18 shot on goal. Williams, Peck and Kasperitis all recorded four shots while
Leah Snelson (Sr., Dallas), Etter, Shafer and
Jamey Coronado (Sr., San Antonio) recorded two shots apiece.
The shutout marked keeper
Alyssa Taramona's (So., Forney, Texas) fourth on the season, tying her for No. 8 in the program's single-season shutout record.
With only two games remaining on the season, both played a Sigma Beta Chi field, the Rattlers are sitting well as the No. 3 spot in Heartland Conference standings, improving to 5-2 in league play and 8-6-1 overall Monday.
St. Mary's will face provisional conference member McMurry at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Sigma Beta Chi field.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
