SAN ANTONIO – St. Edward's withstood a barrage of St. Mary's shots but surrendered a single goal in the opening minutes of the second half to drop a 1-0 decision to the Rattlers in the Battle of the Saints.
Both teams played even through the opening 10 minutes, exchanging a pair of shots each. St. Edward's
CARINA WUST and St. Mary's Shelby Paniagua put one on goal, with keepers Rebecca Difronzo and
DARIA SCHLUMBOHM picking up the early saves.
St. Edward's threatened between the 12th and 14th minute.
ANNIE ROCHA went bottom left with a shot on goal that Difronzo stopped, and
MARIE HANNEDOUCHE missed high and right. A few minutes later, Hannedouche went bottom left on goal, but Difronzo picked up her third save in the first 20 minutes.
St. Mary's went to the bench in the 19th minute, calling on Bella Brigman, who immediately got a shot and earned a corner. The Rattlers settled into the game and reeled off seven unanswered shots, and five corner kicks over the final 25 minutes. Schlumbohm stopped both shots on goal to keep the contest scoreless going into the break.
The Rattlers went to work early in the second half, getting a shot off the woodwork from Panigua and a corner in the half's opening minute. St. Mary's broke through in the 48th minute when Alexis Truitt stole the ball on a goal kick to midfield, dribbled down, and went to the lower left corner of the net for the unassisted goal.
ANNIE ROCHA tried to answer a few minutes later but missed high. The Rattlers dominated possession through the rest of the half until St. Edward's put together a flurry of shots in the final five minutes, with misses from Rocha and
RAINEY SIMMONS and a pair of saves by Difronzo, including a
SIERRA PADILLA shot in the final two minutes.
Paniagua had eight of St. Mary's 27 shot attempts, and Difronzo recorded five saves for the Rattlers. Rocha recorded a team-high five of St. Edward's 12 shots, and Schlumbohm posted seven saves.
St. Edward's falls to 2-6-2 with a 0-4-1 conference record with the loss. The Hilltoppers will return home to host Eastern New Mexico on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
