Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — A heated battle across divisions took place Sunday that had St. Mary's Women's Soccer come out on top as it beat Division-I Texas Southern, 4-1.
In a game that saw nine yellow cards and four red cards, the Lady Rattlers' talent wasn't overshadowed.
Freshman
Kristal Williams (Ponder, Texas) stole the show in the Division-I victory, quickly showing her best qualities in the offense as she assisted all four of the Rattlers' goals.
Within the first 10 minutes of the game two yellow cards were drawn on Texas Southern (0-7). Shortly after, Williams dribbled up to strategically pass to
Anna Stevens (So., San Antonio) from 20 yards out who then netted her first collegiate goal after beating the keeper and a defender to put the Rattlers (1-0-1) up early, 1-0.
The Lady Tigers were able to respond 10 minutes later, striking a goal from a high shot that landed just above goalkeeper
Alyssa Taramona's (So., Forney, Texas) gloves.
By halftime, three red cards had been issued for the 1-1 game, causing Texas Southern to have a squad of nine players on the field and the Rattlers 10 for the second half.
Kaitie Kasperitis (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) immediately ignited in the second half, scoring her second and third goals on the season just 24 seconds apart to jump the Rattlers to a 3-1 lead. Williams assisted Kasperitis' header in the 48
th minute with a long pass across the goalie's box for the close range shot and again found Kasperitis for her second goal and celebration run of the game just seconds later.
Williams again was able to outplay the defense, drawing the Lady Tigers' backup keeper, as the their starting keeper was ejected in the first half, out of the box to give
Lauren Peck (So., San Antonio) a wide open shot for her first goal on the season.
The Rattlers controlled the momentum for the full 90 minutes, taking 14 shots with eight shot on goal and beating the defense for nine offside calls.
Texas Southern tallied just six shots for the game due to the Rattlers' defense with five shot on goal. Taramona was strong in the net for four saves and one goal allowed for a 1-0 record.
St. Mary's has a quick turnaround for its next contest, facing Houston-Victoria at 3 p.m. Tuesday 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.
