This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Thursday, Sept. 4 • St. Mary's (0-0-0) at #3 Colorado State-Pueblo (0-0-0) • 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 6 • St. Mary's at #17 UCCS (0-0-0) • 8 p.m.
Battle Tested: St. Mary's kicks off the 2025 season with six-straight nationally-ranked opponents, beginning at No. 3 Colorado State-Pueblo on Thursday and #17 UCCS on Saturday.
All-Time with CSUP: St. Mary's is 1-5-1 all-time against Colorado State-Pueblo, with a 1-0-1 mark in Pueblo. In 2022, the Rattlers won 2-1 at Gonzales Stadium, while the Thunderwolves won 2-0 in the last meeting at Sigma Beta Chi Field. Thursday will be the season opener for both teams.
All-Time with UCCS: The Rattlers are 3-2-3 all-time against UCCS. The last two meetings have resulted in ties, a scoreless draw in 2022 in Colorado Springs and a 1-1 draw in San Antonio in 2023. StMU is 0-2-1 at Mountain Lion Stadium. The Mountain Lions open the season against Sul Ross State on Thursday before hosting the Rattlers.
Picked Second: After winning the regular season and advancing to the finals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament in 2024, the voters have predicted St. Mary's to finish second in the 2025 campaign. Midwestern State, the four-time defending tournament champions, is the top point-getter in the 11-team poll with 16 of the 33 first-place votes and 338 points. The Rattlers garnered 13 first-place nods and 331 points.
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.
Season Openers: The Rattlers are 14-9-2 in season openers at the NCAA level, with a 6-0-1 record under Head Coach Johnny Clifford. StMU is also 3-0 in openers against the RMAC since Clifford took over, with all three victories coming against MSU Denver.
Rewriting the Books: Senior Johnny Thurbin enters his final year ranked fourth in school history with 16 victories and tied for fourth with 11 shutouts. He also holds the record for the lowest goals against average at 0.84.Â
Roster Notes: Fourteen newcomers will merge with 16 returners to make up the 30-man roster for the Rattlers in 2025. There are nine countries represented on the roster with 18 from the United States, three from Scotland, two each from Mexico and New Zealand and one athlete from Brazil, England, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.
Returning All-Conference: The Rattlers return seven student-athletes who were named to the Lone Star All-Conference teams in 2024. Defender Luke Mulkey and Johnny Thurbin were named to the First Team, as well as Defensive and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. Seniors Andrick Ferrer and Pau Mateu Deya and junior Gael Gallegos were honored on the Second Team and senior Cooper Stephens was tabbed to the Third Team.
