Wednesday, October 25 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field • Senior Night
UT Tyler (7-5-2, 2-4-1) at #6 St. Mary's (10-0-5, 6-0-1) • 5 p.m.Â
Saturday, October 22 • Laredo • Dustdevil Soccer Field
#6 St. Mary's at Lubbock Christian (3-7-6, 1-4-2) • 7 p.m.
Final Week: The St. Mary's Men's Soccer team wraps up the regular season with a solid chance to host the Lone Star Conference Tournament. The Rattlers need only a tie in one of the final two contests to earn the top-seed. The Rattlers host UT Tyler on Wednesday before concluding the regular season at Texas A&M International on Saturday. StMU worked scoreless draws with both teams earlier this year.
Senior Night: On Wednesday, six seniors will be honored for their efforts on the pitch. Jalil Blalock, Ariel Cardozo, Deni Cresto, Cian Foley, Jose Llano and Leo Velazco will all be celebrated before kickoff
Up Two More: For the second-straight week, the Rattlers climbed two spots in the United Soccer Coaches poll and has reached the highest-ever ranking of #6. It is the seventh-straight week StMU has appeared in the poll and the 22nd week in the history of the program. In the NCAA RPI, the Rattlers are ranked 2nd in the nation this week and are the top team in the NCAA Super 4 Region and the South Central Region.
Trophy Case: St. Mary's earned two more Lone Star Conference Player of the Week awards after defeating Midwestern State and Lubbock Christian last week. Junior Dani Gimena was tabbed the Offensive Player, while for the second-time this year senior Ariel Cardozo earned Defensive Player. The Rattlers have been named Player of the Week a total of 11 times this season.
Nation's Leaders: Junior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli now leads the nation in shutouts with 10 and is second in both goals against average (0.224) and save percentage (.923). The Rattlers as a team rank second in the Division II stats (199 teams) in save percentage (.909). The squad also ranks third in both shutout percentage (.733) and goals against average (.267).
Defense to Offense: The Rattlers have one of the best defensive lines in the nation, and the starting four are also a threat to score   as they have nine goals (of the team's 29 this season). In fact, both Ariel Cardozo and Lewis Wilson are tied for the team lead with three goals each, while Andrick Ferrer has two and Bradley Greene has one.
Series History: With the scoreless draw earlier this season, the Rattlers are now 4-2-1 all-time against the Patriots. Four of the seven meetings came in the 2021 calendar year, with each team winning two. The Rattlers also played a scoreless draw against Texas A&M International in Sept. and are now 12-18-4 all-time in that series. The Gold & Blue are 2-0-2 in the last four meetings, last losing to the Dustdevils in 2019.
Oh Captain, My Captain: Field captains Deni Cresto and Lewis Wilson have played in a lot of games together at St. Mary's. The game against UT Tyler will be the 73rd start for Wilson and the 62nd for Cresto. Wilson ranks second in school history with his 72 starts, while Wednesday's start will move Cresto into a tie for fifth with Jeremy Koontz (2000-03).
