No. 25 Men's Soccer Records Fifth Draw of Season

FRISCO, Texas — Another day, another draw for the No. 25 St. Mary's University Men's Soccer team, as they finished in a 2-2 tie against Northwest Nazarene.
 
The five draws for the 2025 team are already the second-most in St. Mary's history, one off the record of six by last season's team.
 
"Soccer is a game of moments," said Assistant Coach Deni Cresto. "There'll be moments in the game where you'll have the better chances and moments where you'll be down. We need to be more attentive to the details within those moments so we can capitalize on our chances created and neutralize our opponents. The effort and mindset is there, we just need to take care of the critical moments within the game."
 
The Rattlers (1-1-5) once again struck early, scoring in the ninth minute on a penalty kick. Graduate student Cooper Stephens (Richardson, Texas) was fouled inside the box, and senior Enzo Jaques (Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil) nailed the PK into the lower right corner for the 1-0 lead.
 
Northwest Nazarene (3-2-2) evened the score in the 19th minute. The Rattlers blocked a shot, but the rebound bounced around and was put into the top part of the frame. In the 69th minute, the Nighthawks gained the lead on a breakaway cross from Derek Johnson to Rylan McPherson for his seventh goal of the year.
 
Senior Luke Mulkey (Parker, Texas) scored the equalizer for the second-straight game, heading a goal in off a header from Matt Espinoza (San Antonio) in the 79th minute. Mulkey, the defending Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year, scored his second goal of the year, using his height to the Rattlers' advantage.
 
The Rattlers outshot the Nighthawks 14-to-10 in the game, and were much more aggressive in the second half, taking 11 shots, compared to five for NNU in the team's third-straight tie.
 
St. Mary's turns its attention to Lone Star Conference play, beginning on the road at Lubbock Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m.