This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Nov. 5 • #9 Midwestern State (11-3-3, 7-2-0) at St. Mary's (3-7-6, 2-6-1) • 7 p.m.
Season Finale: The St. Mary's Men's Soccer team closes out the 2025 season by hosting No. 9 Midwestern State for Senior Night on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Mustangs have already secured the top-spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
Last Week: St. Mary's lost both games to DBU (3-0) and West Texas A&M (2-1), getting eliminated from playoff contention. It is the first time the Rattlers have not qualified for the Lone Star Conference Tournament since joining the league.
Against Midwestern State: The Mustangs have a 40-6 advantage in the all-time series that began in 1977, including a 1-0 victory in Wichita Falls earlier this season, stretching their current streak to six-straight wins over the Rattlers. St. Mary's won both meetings in 2022 at Sigma Beta Chi Field.
Scouting the Mustangs: MSU will be the top-seed for the upcoming LSC Tournament. Parker Plaxco leads the team with 23 points (10 goals, 3 assists), scoring four of his goals (vs NNU) as the Rattlers were on the opposite field during the Midseason Challenge in Frisco. Jake Morris and Daniel Robles have split time in goal, each starting half. The pair have made 48 saves (.774) and allowed only 14 goals (0.82 GAA).
Senior Day: Adrian Cruz, Andrick Ferrer, Enzo Jaques, Daniel Maes, Pau Mateu Deya, Luke Mulkey, Calum Murdoch, and Johnny Thurbin will be honored on Wednesday before the game. There are several other seniors who have already been honored at other schools or last season who will not go through the ceremony, but have made indelible impressions on the St. Mary's legacy, including Santiago Ibarreche, Hagen Kyle, Cooper Stephens and AJ Valdivia.
One Shy: The next save for senior goalkeeper Johnny Thurbin will be the 136th of his career, tying him for fifth place all-time at St. Mary's with Christopher Alvarado (2001-03). Thurbin already ranks in the top five in school history in GAA, shutouts, and victories.
Shuffling the Deck: The Rattlers have used 13 different starting lineups in the 16 games this season. Only Ricky Alvarez, Pau Mateu Deya, Luke Mulkey, and Johnny Thurbin have started in all 16 games in 2025.
Senior Scoring: Of the 11 goals by the Rattlers this season, seven of them have been scored by seniors. Enzo Jaques, Luke Mulkey and Cooper Stephens each have two goals to tie for the team lead, while Pau Mateu Deya scored the other. Junior Gael Gallegos (2), and freshmen Ryan Guillaume (1) and Sebastian Poblete (1) account for the other four.
New Faces: Freshman Sebastian Poblete scored the game-winning goal against Oklahoma Christian, 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.
Tough Slate: Wednesday's contest against No. 9 Midwestern State will be the sixth match this season against a team either ranked or getting votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Rattlers are 1-0-4 against those teams this season.
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 3-1-3 when scoring first in 2025, and 0-6-1 when the opposition puts one in goal first. The first loss when scoring first this season happened on Saturday at West Texas A&M. Junior Gael Gallegos scored in the ninth minute, but the Buffs answered with two later in the first half.
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.
Art Majors: St. Mary's tied the school'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.Â
Playing Clean: St. Mary's ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and seventh in the nation in fewest fouls per game, averaging 8.44 per game. Saint Martin's leads Division II getting whistled for only 7.13 fouls a night, while UT Tyler leads the league with 8.19 fouls per contest.
Fixture: Senior defender/midfielder Andrick Ferrer has played in 71 games throughout his career with the Rattlers, ranking 23rd 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 sixth among Division II active players in solo shutouts for his career (16), 11th in goals against average (0.977), 20th in save percentage (0.767), and 21st in minutes played (3775.35), and his 135 saves rank 37th 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.
