Important Week on Tap for Men's Soccer

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Oct. 29 • DBU (5-6-3, 2-3-2) at St. Mary's (3-5-6, 2-4-1) • 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 1 • St. Mary's at West Texas A&M (5-7-1, 2-4-1) • 1 p.m.
 

Penultimate Week: The St. Mary's Men's Soccer team faces an important task in the next-to-last week of the regular season, hosting DBU on Wednesday at 7:30 as part of a doubleheader with the women's team before traveling to West Texas A&M on Saturday.

Last Week: St. Mary's split a pair of decisions, dropping a 3-1 contest to league-leader UT Dallas on Wednesday before bouncing back for the 1-0 at home against Oklahoma Christian on Friday night. Cooper Stephens and Sebastian Poblete scored the two goals for the Rattlers.

Against DBU: The Rattlers are 30-7-2 headed into the 40th match all-time against DBU and they are unbeaten in their last six games (4-0-2) against the Patriots. St. Mary's is 15-3-1 at home since the series started in 1991, including the thrilling 2-2 tie with a 3-2 PK win in the semifinals of last season's Lone Star Conference Tournament.

Scouting the Patriots: DBU sits one point ahead of the Rattlers in the LSC standings and is coming off a 2-1 loss at Lubbock Christian. Caleb Centeno leads the club with 13 points (5 goals, 3 assists), while Erik Oliveira also has five goals. DBU has used four players in goal this season, combining for 43 saves and 19 goals allowed (1.36 GAA, .694 save pct). Patrick Banich is 3-1-2, while both Sean Mattivi and Garrett McPhee have a win.

Against West Texas A&M: The Buffs own a 21-5-6 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1991, though the Rattlers are unbeaten in the last seven matches (3-0-4). Each of the last two meetings have ended in a 1-1 tie, and four of the last five have been draws.

Scouting the Buffs: West Texas A&M is tied in the standings with the Rattlers and plays at Sul Ross State on Wednesday. The Buffs have dropped four straight contests after starting 2-0-1 in conference play.  D'Jonte Davis leads the team with 10 points (4 goals, 2 assists), while in goal the Buffs have used both Zach Kos (2-3) and Bryce Cottle (3-4-1). The two have combined for 35 saves and allowed 19 goals (1.46 GAA, .648 save pct).

New Faces: Freshman Sebastian Poblete scored the game-winning goal against Oklahoma Christian on Friday, becoming the first freshman since Calum Murdoch in 2022 to kick a game-winner. Murdoch scored a pair of game-winning goals (TAMU-San Antonio and DBU) in his first year of the Gold & Blue. Poblete became the second freshman to score in 2025, joining Ryan Guillaume (Fort Lewis). Junior Gael Gallegos scored four goals as a freshman in 2023, but none were the deciding goal.

Streak Breaker: Friday's win against Oklahoma Christian was the team's first win at home this season, though they've only played four matches at Sigma Beta Chi Field. It snapped a four-game streak without a victory (0-3-1) dating back to the finals of the Lone Star Championship in 2024.

Early Scores: StMU is 3-0-3 when scoring first in 2025, and 0-5-1 when the opposition puts one in goal first.

Efficient: Senior defender Pau Mateu Deya has scored two goals in his career at St. Mary's, and both are game winners for the Rattlers. His latest was a rebound off his own header, that he blasted in with 30 seconds remaining in the half at UT Tyler (Oct. 15) for the 1-0 victory.

Leading the Way: Senior goalkeeper Johnny Thurbin leads the Lone Star Conference in shutouts (5), and ranks second in goalkeeper minutes (1260), save percentage (.750) and third in goals against average (1.00). Thurbin is the defending Lone Star Goalkeeper of the Year and was named the Preseason Keeper by the league's coaches, SID's and media. 

Art Majors: St. Mary's is getting good at drawing, and has already tied the St. Mary's single season record for draws in a season with the 2022 and 2023 teams that went 12-2-6 and 8-5-6, respectively. 

Playing Clean: St. Mary's currently leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks fifth in the nation in fewest fouls per game, averaging 8.21 per game. Saint Martin's leads Division II getting whistled for only 7.21 fouls a night. UT Tyler also ranks in the top-10 in the nation, coming in eighth with 8.40 fouls

Fixture: Senior defender/midfielder Andrick Ferrer has played in 69 games throughout his career with the Rattlers, ranking 24th among DII active career players. Ferrer has six goals and 10 assists for 22 points in his career.

Towards the Top: Senior Johnny Thurbin ranks 10th among Division II active players in career save percentage (.782) and ranks 48th overall, regardless of division. Thurbin also ranks 7th in goals against average (0.896), fifth in solo shutouts (16), 22nd in career minutes (3617.95), and 35th in saves (129) in the DII ranks. 

Tough Defense: Both seniors Luke Mulkey and Johnny Thurbin were named Lone Star Conference Players of the Week after the first week of the season. Mulkey helped lock down the two nationally-ranked squads in Colorado State-Pueblo and UCCS, while Thurbin made seven saves in goal.

Preseason Players of the Year: St. Mary's seniors Luke Mulkey and Johnny Thurbin were named the LSC Preseason Defender and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. The pair earned the identical postseason awards at the conclusion of 2024. Both played every minute of every contest a season ago, holding opponents to 0.79 goals per game.