Men's Soccer Squares Off With Mustangs in NCAA Second Round

NCAA Championship Second Round
Sunday, November 13 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
7-seed Midwestern State (13-5-3) at 2-seed St. Mary's (11-1-6) • 6 p.m.
 

NCAA Tourney: This season marks the second time the St. Mary's Men's Soccer team has advanced to the NCAA Championship, where the team is 1-1 all time. The Rattlers meet up with Lone Star Conference foe Midwestern State - which has won its last four contests - including three straight on the Rattlers home pitch. The match will now take place at 6 p.m. after being adjusted due to weather earlier in the week.

Last Time Out: The Rattlers lost their first game of the season in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, falling 1-0 to Oklahoma Christian

Hardware: The Rattlers dominated the awards given by the Lone Star Conference. In a vote of the coaches, senior Lewis Wilson was named both the Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year, junior Andre Schlaefli was selected as the Goalkeeper of the Year, Johnny Clifford earned Coach of the Year, senior Ariel Cardozo is the Newcomer of the Year and freshman Calum Murdoch was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year. The Rattlers also had six named to the First Team, two to the Second Team and three on the All-Academic Team.

Continuing To Climb: St. Mary's was ranked #5 in the final regular season poll of the season by the United Soccer Coaches.It is the eighth-straight week StMU has appeared in the poll and the 23rd week in the history of the program. 

Series History: After the 2-0 win over Midwestern State on Oct. 10 during the regular season, the Rattlers are now 5-34 all-time and four of the five victories are during the Johnny Clifford era.

Nation's Leaders: Junior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli continues to rank amongst the nation's leaders in shutouts with 11 to rank third and is second in save percentage (900) and third in goals against average (0.305).  The Rattlers as a team rank second in the Division II stats (199 teams) in save percentage (.891). The squad also ranks third in both shutout percentage (.667) and goals against average (.333).

It's a Tie: Both junior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli and the Rattlers have tied Lone Star Conference single season shutout records. Schlaefli has 11, while the team has 12 this year.  Midwestern State's Raul Herrera set the individual shutout record in 2009, while MSU posted 12 shutouts in four consecutive seasons from 2007-10 and West Texas A&M had 12 in 2009.

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 10 goals (of the team's 33 this season). In fact, Lewis Wilson is tied for the team lead with four goals, while Ariel Cardozo has three,  Andrick Ferrer two and Bradley Greene has one.