St. Edward’s men’s soccer team played a physical game against Midwestern State Mustangs for 90 minutes in 70 percent humidity on Sunday. The game ended with four yellow cards, one red card, and a final score of 0-2, Midwestern, on Sept. 18 at the Lewis-Chen Family Field.

The Hilltoppers started strong against the Mustangs, the number three team in the nation for Division II. Though the Hilltoppers played down a player for about 30 seconds after a shin guard mishap in the 28th minute, the game was evenly matched throughout the first half.

St. Edward’s goalkeeper, sophomore John Kaschak, made a notable save in the 40th minute with a diving catch to deny the point. Kaschak made eight saves in the first half.

Junior Robert Olivieri received the first yellow card of the game fifteen seconds into the second half.

The Hilltoppers almost finished off a corner kick in the 55th minute. Junior Peter Gordon headed a ball that deflected off the Mustang goalie, and junior Tyler Miles headed the ball back towards the goal as the Mustang goalie made the save.

Junior JR Ellis and Mustang Nathan Fitzgerald acquired the second and third yellow cards of the game in the 60th minute.

The game took a turn two minutes later when senior Brian Booth received a red card after a questionable call from the center referee. Booth fouled Mustang Dean Lovegood from behind while both tried to receive a Mustang throw. Lovegood collapsed immediately and was down for several minutes before he walked off the field.

The referee claimed Booth went “through the knees to get to the ball,” but the Hilltopper coaching staff thought Booth committed the foul through Lovegood’s back. Such a foul constitutes a cautionary yellow card, not a red card.

“I think the ref can make his decision on the cards that he gave…our guys just have to learn from that,” Head Coach Brian Young said after the match.

Booth was ejected from the game and the Hilltoppers had to play the remainder of the second half with ten players.

Midwestern State received two more yellow cards in the second half.

Mustang VcMor Eligwe scored the first goal in the 75th minute off a cross. Eligwe scored again in the 86th minute after a breakaway from midfield to bring the score to 0-2, Midwestern.

Though Midwestern won by two points, St. Edward’s and Midwestern were evenly matched for most of the game. Both teams kept possession of the ball until the final ten minutes when Midwestern began to dominate because the Hilltoppers were exhausted from playing a man down for three-fourths of the second half.

“I thought the team played really well,” Young said after the match.

The Hilltoppers play St. Mary’s in San Antonio on Sept. 23. Their next home game is against West Texas A&M on Sept. 30 at 4:00 p.m.