Box Score SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The St. Edward's men's soccer team took down rival St. Mary's, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at the St. Mary's Soccer Field.

The victory gave the Hilltoppers the 2009 Heartland Conference Title.

"We have competed our hearts out the last three years and have been real close the previous two seasons," head coach Brian Young said. "The seniors on this team made sure that down the stretch we stayed focused and finished the season strong. We played a very good match against TAMU-International on Friday to try and clinch the title and came up a little short. Our seniors really stepped up when we needed them to today."

St. Edward's (8-8-2, 8-2 HC) got on the board early with two quick goals. Senior Kevin Klaus notched his first goal of the season, scoring in the 15th minute. Klaus, a Red Rock, Texas native, gather a deflected past by St. Mary's (5-12-1, 3-6-1 HC), and chipped his shot from just inside the box over the Rattler goalkeeper for an early 1-0 advantage. Senior Josh Nannen received a long pass from fellow senior Scott Strickland and blasted it into the net for a 2-0 lead. This was the eventual game-winning goal by Nannen.

In the last seven matches, the Jacksonville, Texas native, has four goals, with three of them being of the game-winning variety. St. Edward's would tack on one more goal with time winding down in the first half, when freshman JR Ellis tallied his first career goal as a Hilltopper. Sophomore Terry Stewart set the play up with a brilliant cross near midfield, that was flicked on by senior AJ Prebensen to Ellis, who deposited it into the back of the net.

In the second half, the Hilltoppers received a penalty kick in the 66th minute. Senior John Calandro scored his first goal of the season by converting the try. The Rattlers would get on the scoreboard in the 73rd minute when Robson Pritchett scored an unassisted goal. The shots were near even, as St. Edward's only had the advantage, 11-10, but the Hilltoppers sent seven shots on goal, compared to just three by St. Mary's.

The Hilltoppers end the regular season with a .500-record and clinch their first Heartland Conference Title since 2000. The long-awaited triumph included back-to-back second place finishes to Incarnate Word the past two seasons, by just one point each season.