AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's men's soccer stunned the No. 12-ranked Midwestern State University Mustangs, scoring five goals for a second consecutive game while shutting out the defending Lone Star Conference Championship in the win.
Stunned is an understatement in a game in which the Hilltoppers scored three goals within a little more than a minute of each other in the first half to carry a 4-0 lead into the break.
MASOOD PORSA set the tone early, stepping in front of two early passes to turn defense into offense with a pair of quick runs and dangerous opportunities. The sophomore created an early cross opportunity broken up by Midwestern State keeper Jacob Stone, then missed a shot wide.
The Hilltoppers kept the Mustangs on their heels and intensified the pressure.
IZAIAH GARZA harassed the Midwestern State back line, splitting ace defender Juan Galindo and Parker Paxco to take the ball from them while simultaneously delivering a no-look, backheel assist as he went to the ground to
ARTHUR SOUZA for the game's first goal in the fourth minute.
St. Edward's early goal woke Midwestern State, and the Mustangs settled into their possession attack. They dominated the ball for the next 10 minutes and earned a pair of corners, with
KALEO FRANCIS and
SHUNJI WATANABE breaking up both attempts in the box.
The Hilltoppers turned to their bench midway through the first half, calling on
CHRISTIAN MEZAS,
JETHRO VOURJOLO,
DEAN ROGGENBAUER, and
EMILIANO ABBOUD. Over the next few minutes, the team re-established its own pace, earning a corner kick just shy of the 30th minute.
TODD FULLER triggered the corner, placing the ball just over the leaping scrum in front of the net and into a pocket of space near the foot of Vourjolo, who rocketed the ball into the back of the net for the goal.
St. Edward's immediately put pressure on Midwestern State on the ensuing kick-off, and Dean Roggenbaur intercepted the ball near midfield, then flicked the ball to Vourjolo who found Mezas in space on the right side for the quick cross to Abboud less than 20 seconds after the goal.
Mezas blitzed the first pass on the ensuing kick-off, blocking the frantic clearance attempt for a one-on-one attempt against the keeper, who picked up a red card for tripping Mezas to negate the scoring attempt. Watanabe took the free kick from just outside the box and went for glory, giving St. Edward's the 4-0 lead and a man-up advantage.
Midwestern State managed a few opportunities in the second half, taking advantage of Max Gonzales's size in the box. But the Hilltopper defense held steady and picked its spots to counter, getting an opportunity on a beautiful give-and-go between
HUNTER MERRITT and
DEAN ROGGENBAUER.
Mustang backup goalie Daniel Robles stopped Merritt's attempt, but Souza followed for the opportunistic goal for his second score of the day.
St. Edward's totaled eight shots in each half and withstood Midwestern State's 13 shots after the break to keep a clean sheet. Francis and
ANGEL RAMIREZ combined for the shutout. Ramirez had four of the team's six saves. Souza had two goals on five shots with four on goal.
With the win, the Hilltoppers improved to 3-3-1, handing Midwestern State its first loss. St. Edward's will travel to play Lubbock Christian on Saturday.
