SAN ANTONIO – It happened just how they drew it up in practice. St. Mary's University graduate assistant coach
Bradley Greene saw an opportunity and came up with a plan on a corner kick to take advantage of the athleticism and speed of the Rattlers forwards, and the team played it to perfection in the 54th minute, scoring the lone goal of the game to advance StMU to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
The Rattlers improve to 11-5-2 on the season, while the Patriots end their year with a mark of 7-5-6.
Senior
Ricky Alvarez (Dripping Springs, Texas) took the corner from the far side, and inbounded the ball on the ground to
Sebastian Poblete (Veracruz, Mexico) in the corner of the box, who immediately passed it back to Alvarez, who found sophomore
Kai Louviere (Hondo, Texas) at the corner of the box. Louviere flicked it to sophomore
Dyllan Mendoza (San Antonio) in the penalty arc, who drilled the ball into the top right corner of the net for the goal.
Goalkeeper
Nichita Misac (Lisbon, Portugal) made a huge save as time expired to keep the shutout intact, and had two in the final 90 seconds. He once again tied his career-high with six saves, doing so for the third-straight game and the sixth time this season. Misac's 11 wins in goal tie for the second-most in a season in St. Mary's history and are one off the record of 12 by
Johnny Thurbin from 2024. It is also the sixth shutout of the year for the true freshman, which moves him into sixth on the single-season chart and second among StMU freshman. The record for shutouts by a freshman is seven by Ray Macias in 1981.
St. Mary's put nine shots on goal of the 18 they took in the game, with DBU goalkeeper Sean Mattivi making eight stops. Three of the shots on goal came off the boot of Louviere, while Poblete took two and four others had one. The Rattlers outshot the Patriots 18-to-12 on the afternoon, while DBU ended with one more corner than StMU, 6 to 5, after taking four in the final six-and-a-half minutes.
The Rattlers advance to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament and will play at second-seeded Oklahoma Christian on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. StMU lost a 1-0 decision in Lawton during the regular season.
