Five Score for Men's Soccer in Lone Star Opener

SAN ANTONIO – The St. Mary's Men's Soccer team started Lone Star Conference play with a bang scoring five goals and shutting down another opponent in a 5-0 win over Eastern New Mexico on Saturday night.
 
The Rattlers (5-0-4, 1-0 LSC) held their seventh-straight opponent without a goal and tied their season-high for goals in a game. StMU outshot the Greyhounds (3-3-1, 0-1 LSC) 26-5 on the night and junior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli (Katy, Texas) made three saves.
 
The five goals were all scored by different players as junior Jalil Blalock (Elizabeth, N.J.) took a feed from Sebastian Rivera (Laredo, Texas) in the eighth minute to get things going, though the score remained 1-0 throughout the remainder of the first half.
 
In the 58th minute, the Rattlers scored on a free kick as Rivera took a pass from senior Cian Foley (Wexford, Ireland) and found the back of the net. Just over four minutes later sophomore Bradley Greene (Essex, England) kicked a long ball down the right side of the pitch to a streaking Rivera. He returned the favorand found Foley to make the score 3-0.
 
ENMU tried to clear the ball away in the 68th minute, but sophomore Andrick Ferrer (San Antonio) was able to intercept it before the ball went out of bounds and he fired it in. Junior Collins Gitau (Huntsville, Texas) capped the scoring in the 81st minute.
 
The Rattlers remain at home and have a rematch with DBU on Wednesday at 7 p.m. StMU won earlier in the year in Dallas, 2-0 in a non-conference tilt.
 
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES

• The Rattlers have not allowed a goal in 645 minutes, posting their seventh consecutive clean sheet.
• The goals for Jalil Blalock and Collins Gitau were their second of the year, while Sebastian Rivera, Andrick Ferrer and Cian Foley all scored their first in 2022.
• The 26 shots by the Rattlers is the second-highest output of the season, trailing only the 29 shots against Texas A&M San Antonio on Sept. 17.
• St. Mary's did not allow Eastern New Mexico a shot on goal in the first half. Schlaefli saved all three of the Greyhounds SOG in the second stanza.
• Schlaefli and senior defender Ariel Cardozo were the only Rattlers to play all 90 minutes.
• St. Mary's was a perfect 3-0 this weekend against Eastern New Mexico as the Rattlers volleyball team won in Portales on Friday night and the women's soccer team won 2-0 there on Saturday afternoon.