Men's Soccer Wins Battle of the Saints

SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's Men's Soccer team survived a late onslaught of shots by rival St. Edward's to win the Battle of the Saints 2-1 on Saturday night. 

Junior goalkeeper Johnny Thurbin (Lingfield, Surrey, England) made a career-high seven saves – all in the second half – as the Hilltoppers (3-4-3, 1-1-2) took 15 shots after halftime and 17 in the game.

"This is a really good three points for us tonight," said Head Coach Johnny Clifford. "St. Ed's wanted that one and came out to try and press us early. I thought we showed a lot of composure in the first half, especially, and it was great to get one on a set piece. We defended hard at the end of the game and deserved the win tonight; it was well-earned. We look forward to hosting UT Tyler on Wednesday."

As the clock wound down under five minutes in the first half, the Rattlers (7-2-2, 3-0-0) were awarded a free kick. Senior Sofian Maghouz (London, England) placed the ball perfectly in the box for junior Luke Mulkey (Parker, Texas) to head it in over the outstretched glove of the keeper into the top right corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

In the 54th minute, sophomore Gael Gallegos (Laredo, Texas) scored on a penalty kick to give StMU a 2-0 advantage.

The Hilltoppers scored in the 83rd minute during their flurry of activity. On a corner kick, Thurbin punched the ball out of the box, and it bounced around until Shunji Watanabe managed to get his head on the ball and place it in the net for the 2-1 final score.

Watanabe ended the night with five shots on goal to lead the match, while Marghouz led the Rattlers with a pair.

This is the third season since joining the Lone Star Conference in 2019 that the Rattlers have begun league play with a 3-0 record, matching the 2021 and 2022 clubs. StMU is the only remaining undefeated team left in the 11-team league. All 11 teams have at least one point through the first two weeks of conference action.

The Rattlers now hold a 2-0 edge in the yearly Battle of the Saints, as both men's and women's soccer have won conference matchups with St. Edward's. Volleyball is next on the docket on Nov. 16 in Austin. 

St. Mary's hosts UT Tyler on Wednesday at 7 p.m. In non-conference play, the Gold and Blue won 2-0 in Tyler on Sept. 25. The Patriots worked a 2-2 draw at Lubbock Christian earlier on Saturday and are 0-1-3 in LSC action.