No. 3 Men's Soccer Hosts Pair of Ranked Teams

Thursday, September 7 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
#12 Colorado State-Pueblo (1-0-1) at  #3 St. Mary's (2-0-0) • 7 p.m.

Saturday, September 9 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
#20 UCCS (2-0-0) at #3 St. Mary's • 4 p.m.
 

Tough Test: St. Mary's will face its toughest test of the young season when it hosts a pair of nationally-ranked teams this week, including a rematch of the 2022 NCAA Round of 16 against Colorado State-Pueblo on Thursday.

Making the Jump: The Rattlers jumped up six spot in the United Soccer Coaches poll from ninth to third after the first week of competition. The No. 3 ranking is the highest-ever for the men's soccer team, bettering the ranking of No. 5 last season.

Foley On Fire: Fifth-year senior Cian Foley has scored all three goals in the 2023 season and was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. 

Series History: The Rattlers are 1-4-1 all-time against Colorado State-Pueblo after the teams split the meetings last year, with each team winning on the opponent's home field. StMU also holds the 3-2-1 edge in the all-time series with Colorado Colorado Springs and last met in 2019 - a 1-0 loss for the Gold and Blue.

D-D-D-Defense: St. Mary's is one of seven teams in Division II who have played multiple games this season without allowing a goal. There are 10 other teams who have played once without surrendering a score.

Oh Captain, My Captain: Seniors Cian Foley and Dani Gimena have been named captains for the 2023 season. The pair have combined to play in 118 matches with 17 goals and 10 assists. 

Turbo Time: Sophomore goalkeeper Johnny Thurbin was in goal the entire 90 minutes in the 1-0 win over UT Tyler to kick off the season. Thurbin recorded a career-high six saves in the second start of his career.

Helping Hand: Senior Juan Jose Lopez Valdez owns the team's lone assist of the season, finding Cian Foley for the second goal of the night against West Texas A&M. It was the third assist of Lopez' StMU career and the ninth of his collegiate career.

It's An Honor: Both senior goalkeeper Andre Schlaefli and junior defender Andrick Ferrer were named the Lone Star Conference Preseason Players of the Year. The pair were both First-Team All-Conference and All-Region selections a season ago, while Schlaefli was the Goalkeeper of the Year in the league and went on to win All-American Third-Team honors by D2CCA.

Melting Pot: The Rattlers are once again a great mix of nationalities and personalities on the 2023 roster as StMU has players hailing from 12 different countries. Colombia, England (4), Germany (2), Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Scotland (2), Spain, United Arab Emirates and the United States (13) are all represented.