Men's Soccer Starts LSC Tournament on Friday

Lone Star Conference Championship
Friday, November 4 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
Oklahoma Christian (10-4-5) at #5 St. Mary's (11-0-6) • 7:30 p.m. 

Sunday, November 6 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
Championship Match • 1 p.m.
 

Top Seed: For the second time in school history, the St. Mary's Men's Soccer is hosting the Lone Star Conference Tournament after earning the top seed. The Rattlers were 7-0-2 in league action and welcome DBU, Midwestern State and Oklahoma Christian to San Antonio.

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: For the third-straight week, the Rattlers moved up in the United Soccer Coaches poll and has reached the highest-ever ranking of #5. It is the eighth-straight week StMU has appeared in the poll and the 23rd 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.

Lone Star History: St. Mary's is 2-3 all-time in the Lone Star Tournament, reaching the finals in 2019, the semifinals in 2021 and the quarters in 2020. Midwestern State has knocked the Rattlers out all three seasons.

Series History: With the 1-0 victory at Oklahoma Christian back on Oct. 15, the Rattlers are now 9-3-2 all-time against the Eagles with a 4-1 record at home.  In the last 10 meetings between the clubs, the Rattlers are 8-0-2 with four straight wins.

Nation's Leaders: Junior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli continues to lead the nation in shutouts with 11 and is second in both goals against average (0.259) and save percentage (.913).  The Rattlers as a team rank second in the Division II stats (199 teams) in save percentage (.902). The squad also ranks third in both shutout percentage (.706) and goals against average (.294).

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.