Box Score SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's Women's Soccer flashed in the second half of its first regular-season game against Our Lady of the Lake Thursday that ended in a draw after the Saints struck with just eight seconds left to tie it up 2-2 and force double overtime.
The Lady Rattlers opened their season hungry for a win and were powerful around the net with 11 of their total 19 shots being on target.
Leah Snelson (Sr., Dallas) and
Kaitie Kasperitis (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) each netted their first goals on the season on the Saints' field, seeming to set the pace for another season of high scoring for each.
By halftime the score was at a stalemate, 0-0, that charged the Rattlers into the second half as they scored two goals just a minute apart from two of last season's top scorers, Snelson who scored at the 55-mintue mark and Kasperitis, who netted at the 56-minute mark.
Shortly after the Saints netted a penalty kick at the 68-mintue mark, lightening struck to delay the 2-1 game for half an hour. The break didn't phase the Rattlers who were just eight seconds away from marking their first win of 2013 but Saint Stephanie Diaz postponed St. Mary's first victory with a goal that just beat the clock.
After two overtimes the score remained the same with each team taking a total of four shots.
Snelson was on mark for the Rattlers, shooting a team-high four shots with three shot on goal. Kasperitis was next in line, shooting three shots with one shot on goal.
Jamey Coronado (Sr., San Antonio),
Katy Belew (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) and newcomer
Kristal Williams (Fr., Ponder, Texas) each recorded a pair of shots each.
Starting keeper
Paola Ostos (Sr., El Paso, Texas) recorded five saves for regulation and keeper
Alyssa Taramona (So., Forney, Texas) recorded three saves in the 20 minutes of overtime.
The Rattlers' skills will be put to the test in their second game on the season as they faceoff against Division-I competition. St. Mary's plays Texas Southern at 1 p.m. Sunday at Our Lady of the Lake 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.
