In a high stakes, emotional match fighting for the spot in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Championship game, the St. Edward’s men’s soccer team fell to the Midwestern State University Mustangs. After a goal early in the first half, the Hilltoppers were unable to capitalize on the chances they created and ended up conceding three goals in the second half.
Even though the match was held on the St. Mary’s University field in San Antonio, St. Edward’s fans filled the stands in support of the men’s team. Placing third in regular season LSC standings, the Hilltoppers had a redemption season after last year, when they finished last in the Conference. Due to the exponential growth in the team’s performance, head coach Brian Young received the LSC Coach of the Year award.
“Overall I was proud of them, but also most proud of the guys that played last year and maybe didn’t get the results,” Young said. “I think for this year, for us to get to the semifinals and it was a 3-1 result but it wasn’t really that on if you’re actually here at the game, I thought it was much closer than that. I thought overall the improvement has been great and it’s been accredited to the guy’s working hard. We’ll get better.”
Starting an hour late — the Dallas Baptist University versus St. Mary’s semifinal game beforehand went into double overtime and penalty kicks — the Hilltoppers came in with powerful runs up the field. Seven minutes in, forward graduate student Arthur Souza dribbled the ball in the box and passed it to sophomore midfielder Matthew Devaney, who found the bottom-right corner of the net and secured the lead for St. Edward’s.
During the first half, the Hilltoppers had eight shot attempts compared to only three made by the Mustangs. St. Edward’s kept the pressure up, maintaining the ball on their attacking side and generating shots — especially by freshmen Izaiah Garza and Christian Mezas, who combined created three chances.
Souza also performed well, crossing the ball in the box and making three shots on goal, all of which were unsuccessful. Despite Midwestern State having fewer shots on goal, which were blocked by Hilltopper keeper Angel Ramirez, the Mustangs pressured St. Edward’s defense with strong charges in the box and dribbles along the sidelines.
Coming back from halftime, the Mustangs managed to keep the ball on their attacking side, creating 11 shots compared to the five chances created by the Hilltoppers. At 61 minutes, MSU’s Eduardo Cerna found the back of the net for the first time, once the ball slipped through Ramirez’s hands and hit the bottom right corner of the goal.
In the following three minutes, the Mustangs generated three more chances — one of which was saved in a collective effort from the Hilltoppers, as Ramirez was down and hadn’t been able to recover from the first shot — in attempts to secure the lead. In response to those shots, Hilltopper striker Jethro Vourjolo had two back-to-back shots, but was unable to capitalize. Center back Irvin Abarca left his position on the defensive end to attempt a shot in the upper left corner of the goal, but was caught by the Mustangs’ keeper.
With 10 minutes left in the match and intensified cheers of encouragement from St. Edward’s supporters, MSU’s Cerna dribbled the ball in the box, leaving three Hilltoppers down, and found the net once more. At the 85th minute mark, a mere five minutes after Cerna’s second goal, the midfielder assisted Mustangs’ forward Mere Escobar, bringing their lead to 3-1 — taking both the win and the spot in the LSC Championship game.
“I am very thankful for the guys that are going to graduate in the program, I think they left a really good legacy,” Young said. “Hopefully we’ll continue to get better in the spring. In the fall we will recruit and improve the team and hopefully be on the winning side of a game like this.”
Men’s soccer ended their season with a 5-2-3 LSC regular season record and fell to an 8-6-4 overall record after the semifinal. Along with the award for Coach of the Year, the team also had an All-Conference First Team appearance with Souza, three All-Conference Freshman Team appearances with Garza, Mezas and Pablo Zavala — who was also in the All-Conference Third Team — and two All-Conference Second Team appearances with Abarca and Shunji Watanabe. Seniors Todd Fuller and Jommar Reyes finished the season being featured on the LSC All-Tournament Team.
