This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Thursday, Sept. 5 • Our Lady of the Lake (1-2) • 7:30 p.m.
Kicking Things Off: The 2024 season gets underway for St. Mary's Men's Soccer on Thursday when they host Our Lady of the Lake. It is the 57th season of Men's Soccer for the Rattlers.
JT Gets The Nod: Junior GK Johnny Thurbin was named the Lone Star Conference Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. In two years with StMU, Thurbin has played in eight games, starting six with 22 saves (.786 percent). He is 4-1-1 in those six starts and recorded a pair of shutouts last season. Twice he's made six saves in a contest, including at St. Edward's in a 2-1 victory — the first for the Rattlers in Austin in 13 seasons.
Picked Third: The Rattlers were chosen to finish third in the LSC Preseason poll, getting one first-place vote and 275 points, which is selected by the head coaches, sports information personnel and select media in the league. A year ago, the Rattlers were 8-5-6 and have won two conference titles in five seasons in the Lone Star. Midwestern State was almost a unanimous pick to repeat as winners, getting 32 of 33 first-place votes and 362 points, while West Texas A&M was chosen second with 303 points.
Opponent History: St. Mary's is 3-1-0 all-time against Our Lady of the Lake in counting contests and the teams have played several other exhibition contests throughout the years. The last meeting was a 3-0 victory for StMU back on Sept. 16, 2021.
Scouting the Saints: Our Lady of the Lake is (1-2) on the season with a 2-1 win over Schreiner, an 8-0 loss to Oklahoma City and a 2-0 loss to Science and Arts. Alessandro Sierra and Thiago Fernandes each have a goal for the Saints, scoring 17 minutes apart in the season opener over Schreiner. Dominic Pena has 23 saves in goal, but has allowed 11 for a 3.68 goals against average.
What's Back: The Rattlers return six starters off last season's team in: Adam Aboohamidi (9 starts), Gael Gallegos (15), Bradley Greene (11), Luke Mulkey (19), Lewis Nohar (11), and Juan Jose Valdez Lopez (16). Gallegos is the team's leading returning scorer with 14 points in his freshman year (6 goals, 2 assists).Mulkey was the only Ratter to start in all 19 contests in 2023. The Rattlers also have seven other returners off the team that reached the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
International Flavor: The 2024 StMU roster has players from 12 different countries and one territory. In addition to 14 student-athletes from the United States, there are multiple players from England (4), Italy (2) and Scotland (2).
Season Openers: Since joining the Division II ranks, the Rattlers are 13-9-2 in season openers and are 5-0-1 under Head Coach Johnny Clifford. This is the second-straight season the Rattlers have started the year at home as in 2023 they defeated UT Tyler 1-0 in a non-conference contest.
What's Next: The Rattlers travel to Colorado to face RMAC foes Colorado Mesa (9/9) and Fort Lewis (9/11), both in Alamosa. The game against the Mavericks will be only the third neutral site games since Johnny Clifford took over the reins in 2018.
