THE RECAP
The St. Mary's Rattlers handed No. 3 West Texas A&M their first loss of the season in a thriller, 3-2. The Rattlers benefited from a raucous crowd that turned out on Rattler Blue Out Night. StMU took the lead in the second half and outlasted the Buffs, earning a major upset victory.
WTAMU opened the scoring with a goal in the fourth minute. After starting the season 7-0-0, the Rattlers had a mountain to climb just to find the equalizer. But climb they did, St. Mary's struck back with a goal from Alonso Rodriguez in the 13th minute. The goal was assisted by Erwin Regules.
Immediately out of the halftime break, the Rattlers broke the tie as Cian Foley found the back of the net on a ball from Alain Peralt and Deni Cresto. Foley's goal sent a jolt of emotion through the crowd that rallied around him on the sideline. But Cian wasn't done yet. Foley scored just seven minutes later in what would ultimately be the game winner.
The Buffs scored four minutes later, but the Rattlers would hold on and hand the third-ranked team in the country their first loss of the season.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- St. Mary's earned their fifth-ever win over WTAMU in dramatic fashion on Saturday night. It is a win that sent a statement to the conference that StMU is ready to compete once again.
- The Rattlers were outshot by WTAMU, 15-13, but St. Mary's converted on three of the five shots on frame.
- For StMU, this is the first time that they have beaten the Buffs in San Antonio since 2015.
HEAD COACH JOHNNY CLIFFORD ON THE STATEMENT WIN
"I thought the boys were fantastic tonight. We've been talking about tonight all week and doing our homework. We thought this was coming, we've been feeling really confident. It means a lot to these guys. Tonight was about heart and a really positive performance."
UP NEXT
The Rattlers head to Odessa, Texas for a contest against the Falcons of UTPB. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.
