Men's Soccer Hosts a Pair

Wednesday, September 28 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
UT Permian Basin (2-1-2) at #18 St. Mary's (3-0-4) • 7 p.m. 

Saturday, October 1 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
Eastern New Mexico (3-2-1, 0-0) at #18 St. Mary's • 7 p.m.

Middle of Stretch: St. Mary's is in the midst of a four-game home stretch, hosting UT Permian Basin on Wednesday in the final non-conference game of the season and welcomes Eastern New Mexico on Saturday in the Lone Star Conference opener. Both kickoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Moving On Up: After inexplicably dropping three spots in the poll last week, the Rattlers climbed six spots up to #18 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Association poll. This is the highest the Rattlers have been ranked since third week of the 2020 season and is the 18th week the team has appeared in the top 25 since week one of 2018.

Tough Line: 

• The Rattlers defense has not surrendered a goal in the last 465 minutes of action and has only given up two in seven games. 
• St. Mary's currently ranks second in the nation  with a 0.286 goals against average and third in save percentage at .917. Both numbers lead the Lone Star Conference as well. 
• The five shutouts on the year is tied for the eighth most in Division II and is two behind leaders Franklin Pierce, Mercyhurst and UCCS with seven each.
• St. Mary's has allowed only two goals all season, which is tied for second in the nation, behind #1 ranked Davis & Elkins, which has allowed one in seven contests.
• The five consecutive shutouts breaks the school record of four straight from the 2002 season.

Racking Up The Hardware: Sophomore Andrick Ferrer became the fifth different Rattler to be awarded a Player of the Week honor by the Lone Star Conference this season. Ferrer helped StMU post two more shutouts and added a no-look assist in the 2-0 win at DBU. Ferrer joins Ariel Cardozo, Bradley Greene and Lewis Wilson on the defensive line to win, while junior GK Andre Schlaefli also won Goalkeeper of the Week. St. Mary's has won the Defensive Player of the Week all four weeks the team has been active.

Drawing Even: In four of the seven matches this season, the new NCAA rule of no overtime periods has come into effect, resulting in a draw. The school record for most ties in a season is five by the 1981 squad which went 5-9-5.

Tough Slate: According to the NCAA, St. Mary's has the 10th toughest schedule in all of Division II this season. In the Lone Star, the Rattlers trail only West Texas A&M (#3).

Series History: With the two wins last season, St. Mary's is now 21-10 all-time against UT Permian Basin, including a 15-4 mark at home. The Rattlers have also won five straight over the Falcons.  The Rattlers also hold a slight 10-8-1 edge in the series against Eastern New Mexico. The clubs have not faced each other since 2019, a 3-2 win for StMU. St. Mary's also has won five in a row against the Greyhounds.