This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Thursday, Sept. 17 • Saint Martin's (3-2-1) vs. St. Mary's (3-2) • 5 p.m. (CT)/3 p.m. (PT)
Saturday, Sept. 19 • St. Mary's vs. Northwest Nazarene (2-1-3) • 1 p.m. (CT)/11 a.m. (PT)
Week Four: The St. Mary's Men's Soccer team heads to the Pacific Northwest to play a pair of neutral site contests against Saint Martin's (3-2-1) and Northwest Nazarene (2-1-3) from the GNAC. The teams will be competing in the GNAC/LSC Challenge, along with Midwestern State, Simon Fraser, UT Tyler, West Texas A&M, and Western Oregon. The games will all take place at the Pioneer Sports Park.
National Honors: One day after being named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, sophomore transfer Eduardo Fernandez became the first-ever Rattler to get National Player of the Week honors, earning the award from D2CIDA (NCAA Division II Conference Information Director's Association). Fernandez scored four goals and added two assists in the team's wins over Sul Ross State and #9 Rogers State. Fernandez had a hat trick off the bench for StMU in the 10-0 win over the Lobos and tied the game at Rogers State in the 60th minute, then started the score with an assist in the 66th minute for the win.
Conference Award: In addition to Eduardo Fernandez being named Lone Star Offensive Player of the Week, freshman Lewis Boney was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Boney shut out #9 Rogers State in the second half and held Sul Ross State to only one shot. He also added three points against the Lobos with an assist in the 16th minute and a goal in the 21st minute en route to the 10-0 victory.
History Against: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Saint Martin's Saints and St. Mary's and the second contest with Northwest Nazarene. A season ago, the Rattlers and Nighthawks fought to a 2-2 draw at the GNAC/LSC Challenge in Dallas.
Scouting the Saints: Saint Martin's is 3-2-1 on the season and has not faced any common opponents with the Rattlers. The team's 13 goals have been scored by nine different players, though Juan Diaz leads with nine points (2 goals, 5 assists). Goalkeeper Connor Leistiko has been in goal all 540 minutes with nine goals allowed and 24 saves (.727).Â
Scouting the Nighthawks: Northwest Nazarene is 2-1-3 and coming off its first loss of the year, 2-0 to Colorado Mesa. The Rattlers and Nighthawks have not faced any common opponents in 2026. NNU posted draws in its first three games of the year before winning 1-0 at Menlo. Caleb Putney has scored half (3) of the team's goals and leads the way with eight points (3 goals, 2 assists). Gerardo Torres Fonte was in goal the first two games, but Elijah Brocki has started the last four games with five goals allowed and 17 saves (.773).
A Rarity: The win at #9 Rogers State on Saturday was only the fifth win under Johnny Clifford when the Rattlers were trailing at halftime (1-0). St. Mary's is now 5-25-6 in the ninth season with Clifford at the helm. The team is an astounding 50-3-2 when leading at the break and 27-11-20 when entering the locker room tied after 45 minutes.
Shot Distribution: In the first five games, St. Mary's has taken 78 shots by 19 different players. Sophomores Sebastian Poblete and Eduardo Fernandez each have nine shots, while Fernandez leads the team with seven shots on goal.
Sharing is Caring: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks third in the nation in assists with 3.20 per game. The Rattlers also rank third nationally and lead the league with 7.80 corner kicks per contest. StMU also ranks sixth nationally with 9.20 points per game despite not scoring in its first two games of the year.
Here's Your Hat: Sophomore Eduardo Fernandez became only the 10th player in St. Mary's history to record at least a hat trick with his three goals against Sul Ross State on Sept. 9. Richard Cassinelli (Sept. 6, 1970) and Marco Garcia (Oct. 13, 1990) share the school record with five goals in a match.
Half Dozen: Freshman goalkeeper Nichita Misac has made six saves in three of the last four games and is up to a 80.0 save percentage. The native of Lisbon, Portugal has 20 total saves and has been in goal for 436:14 of the team's 450 minutes this season.
Multi Scores: Head Coach Johnny Clifford has 82 wins in his career, and in 43 of those victories (52.4 percent) the Rattlers have scored three or more goals, including the 10-0 win over Sul Ross State, which ties for the fourth-most goals in a game in school history and is the second-highest total since the team joined the NCAA Division II ranks in 2000.
Preseason Poll: With 18 newcomers on the roster, the prognosticators in the Lone Star Conference were unsure of the new look Rattlers and voted the team eighth in the 11-team league preseason poll. Defending national champion Midwestern State was chosen to repeat as champions, receiving 30 of the 33 first-team votes and 351 points. Rival St. Edward's has been selected second with 293 points, while UT Dallas (2 first-place votes, 290 points), Lubbock Christian (1, 241) and UT Tyler (198) round out the top five. The Rattlers garnered 161 points, finishing behind DBU (187) and West Texas A&M (175), and ahead of Oklahoma Christian (133), Sul Ross State (75) and Texas A&M International (74).
What's Returning: The Rattlers return only six of last season's 33 points, with two each coming from Ryan Guillaume and Sebastian Poblete and one each from Matt Espinoza and Axel Villegas. Poblete became the first freshman to score a game-winning goal since 2022, kicking the winner last season against Oklahoma Christian.
Cresto Success: Assistant Coach Deni Cresto served as the acting head coach on Saturday against Texas A&M-San Antonio. He is now 1-0-3 in games where he's served as the acting head coach, as last season he led the team to three draws while Head Coach Johnny Clifford was either suspended (1) or gone for the birth of his daughter (2).
Roster Notes: The Rattlers will merge 12 returners with 18 newcomers to make up the 30-man roster for 2026. There are seven countries represented on the roster with 19 from the United States, two each from England, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, and one from Scotland.
