SAN ANTONIO – The streak continues for No. 10 St. Mary's University as the Rattlers took down the University of Texas at Permian Basin on Thursday night at Sigma Beta Chi Field. The program's best winning streak reached nine games tonight with the 3-0 victory over the Falcons.
On a brisk night in San Antonio, the Rattlers defense held the Falcons attack at bay for much of the match. UTPB managed just three shots in the opening half and one in the final frame.
The Falcons had a golden opportunity early as Stefan Faria earned a penalty kick in the fifth minute on a foul by St. Mary's goalkeeper
Gerard Roebuck but Faria missed wide left on the kick, keeping the match deadlocked at zero.
The Rattlers offense got a kickstart in the 51
st minute when
Nenad Markovic buried a
Jesus Valenzuela cross just inside the near post for the eventual game-winner. The senior has now scored a goal in the Rattlers last three matches and five on the season.
In the 68
th minute
Luis Sanchez added another goal for St. Mary's as he took a touch from
Martin Ibarreche and beat the UTPB keeper, making it 2-0 Rattlers with just over 20 minutes to play.
Edu Toiny-Pendred netted his sixth goal of the season in the 87
th minute to make it 3-0 and put the match completely out of reach. Markovic and
Cain Smith assisted on the goal.
The three goals mark the 10
th time this season the Rattlers have scored three or more goals in a match.
St. Mary's moves to 12-2-1 on the season and 7-1 in Lone Star action.
The Rattlers return to the pitch on Saturday as they welcome Lubbock Christian University. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. St. Mary's looks to get revenge on the Chaps as LCU defeated the Rattlers 2-1 in the Heartland Conference Tournament to end St. Mary's season.
Join us at Sigma Beta Chi Field as we honor three seniors (Markovic, Sanchez, and
Carlos Blasco) prior to the match.
