Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — Men's Soccer saw its first victory of the season shoot above the bar Tuesday as it had the looks to bring a tie and force overtime but Houston-Victoria was able to close it out, 2-1.
Armando Macias (So., San Antonio) nearly sealed the Rattlers' (0-3) chance at overtime after netting his first goal on the season with 10 minutes left in the game to put the Rattlers on the board 2-1 at Our Lady of the Lake Field. Two minutes later, Macias again found his way in front the net for a clear shot that was high of slicing the top of the net to tie the game.
"After that first goal I was excited," said Macias of his second career goal. "I felt it was going to push us."
Macias and the Rattlers hyped up their play in the second half, irking for their first win.
"We could've come back," Macias said. "We were playing with intensity in the last 20 minutes. We should've had it in the beginning."
The Rattlers re-enforced energy may have stemmed from being a man down on the field after
Adam Muro (RS-Sr., San Antonio) was issued a red card in the 62
nd minute.
By halftime the game was still scoreless after the Rattlers held Houston-Victoria (4-2) from taking a single shot in the first 45 minutes. St. Mary's outshot the Jaguars for the game with nine shots to eight with five being on target for each.
The Jaguars first struck 10 minutes after the start of the second half after a shot deflected off Rattler keeper
Patrick Kasperitis (RS-Sr., Corpus Christi, Texas) that bounced to the other side of the box for an open shot. Houston-Victoria again netted a goal in the 74
th minute with an unassisted strike to the top shelf.
Jack Wolf (So., Richardson, Texas) led the Rattlers in looks, shooting a team-high five shots with three shot on goal. Macias had three shots with one shot on goal and
Alexis Santamaria (So., San Antonio) had one shot that was on goal.
Kasperitis recorded three saves while allowing two goals to drop to 0-3 on the season.
The Rattlers will face Texas-Permian Basin next and although the Falcons are a Heartland Conference member, the game will not count as a conference game. The Rattlers play the Falcons at 6 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 19
th at St. Mary's.
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.
