Under the lights at Lewis-Chen Family Field, with the Austin skyline glowing just beyond the touchline, the 2025 season announced itself with possibility.

For the first time in program history, St. Edward's men's soccer opened a season beneath permanent lights, and for a while, everything felt illuminated. The ball moved quicker, the energy sharper, and expectations rose with every clean touch. A 3-0 win over Delta State set the tone. Another four matches passed without a loss, and the early returns suggested something more than just a fast start.

But seasons aren't built on moments alone. They're built on what happens after them, especially when momentum wavers, injuries pile up, and leads slip away late.

By the time the Hilltoppers walked off the field in November following a narrow Lone Star Conference semifinal loss to Lubbock Christian, their 8-6-4 record told only part of the story. This year was defined by resilience and restlessness, brilliance and frustration, and by a team that proved it could go toe-to-toe with anyone in the region while still learning how to close the final chapter.

"It was a successful season by many accounts, but still an incomplete one by the standards we set," St. Edward's head men's soccer coach Brian Young admits. "The men played hard, but everyone is ready to get back in the spring and resume working towards the NCAA Tournament." 

The standard had been raised, not by preseason projections, but by what the Hilltoppers showed they were capable of becoming.

That belief was forged early. Playing under the lights brought an emotional charge, and St. Edward's leaned into it. The Hilltoppers controlled possession, pressed with intent, and looked comfortable dictating tempo. They scored 30 goals across the season and averaged more than 14 shots per game, numbers that reflected an attacking identity built on movement and confidence.

Yet even during that opening homestand, the season's central tension began to surface. A late goal conceded against Mississippi College turned a win into a draw. A two-goal second-half lead versus Fort Lewis ended level. Thin margins belied strong performances. 

The first loss arrived against Northeastern State in a match in which opportunities were there, but finishing wasn't. Soon after came a sobering trip to the Pacific Northwest. Western Washington exposed lapses in consistency, and Seattle Pacific capitalized late while St. Edward's played a man down. In a matter of days, the Hilltoppers went from undefeated to searching for answers.

Young breaks seasons into thirds: non-conference, conference, and postseason, and the transition between those chapters was instructive. Fast starts are valuable, he says, but consistency is what sustains ambition.
Conference play, predictably, demanded both.

If there was a defining quality to St. Edward's 2025 campaign, it was its refusal to fold. Time and again, the Hilltoppers found ways to pull themselves back from the brink.

The most dramatic example came in Wichita Falls. Facing the eventual national champions, Midwestern State, on the road, CHRISTIAN MEZAS turned chaos into brilliance. His game-winner with six seconds remaining silenced the crowd and reinforced what had become a familiar refrain: records didn't matter when these two programs met.

Mezas did it again against Oklahoma Christian. St. Edward's fell behind by two goals, only to rally for a 3-2 win. Against Sul Ross State, late heroics again tilted the balance. 

But they also underscored the other side of the coin. St. Edward's were resilient in coming up with late-game heroics, but they were also careless in having to rely on them. Too often, the Hilltoppers put themselves in positions they didn't need to be in.

"We had teams where we wanted them," Young said. "Then let it slide."

Defensively, injuries reshaped the back line. What had been one of the league's stingiest units a year ago became a patchwork of necessity. Wingers were asked to defend. Roles shifted weekly. IZAIAH GARZA and MASOOD PORSA sacrificed attacking instincts to stabilize the back four. TIMMY HOLLENBECK stepped into a larger role at center back and responded with poise. 

In goal, ANGEL RAMIREZ and Kaleo Perez-Frances split duties early, fostering competition and growth. When Ramirez went down, Perez-Frances delivered his best stretch of soccer, anchoring a group that finished with 68 saves and learned resilience the hard way.

By late October, something clicked.

With injuries easing and lineups stabilizing, St. Edward's began to look more like itself. The Hilltoppers connected passes through midfield, found rhythm in possession, and closed matches with greater control. A clean-sheet win against West Texas A&M to secure the No. 2 seed in the LSC Tournament was the reward for that persistence.

At the heart of that identity was a midfield that blended creativity and edge. Redshirt freshman FILIP ADAMSKI announced himself not just as the future, but the present, earning LSC Freshman of the Year, All-LSC First Team, and All-Region honors. Clever on the ball and fearless in tight spaces, Adamski broke lines and expectations alike, contributing across phases and hinting at a ceiling still far above reach.

"We could tell Filip was an exceptional player before he got hurt in last year's preseason, and he returned even better this fall," Young says. "We want him to take even greater command of the midfield and be a bigger focal point next season, because he's just scratching the surface of what he can do and he has a desire to get there."

Alongside him, SHUNJI WATANABE provided the unsung work with defensive recoveries, positional discipline, and leadership that rarely finds the box score but anchors everything else. IRVIN ABARCA battled injuries yet remained a steady presence, capping a career defined by consistency and competitiveness. Both earned all-conference honors for a second consecutive year.

Mezas, meanwhile, delivered a season that will be remembered long after his departure to the Division I ranks. His relentless press created chances where none seemed available. His goals arrived in moments that mattered. All-LSC First Team, All-Region First Team, and conference weekly honors followed — accolades that reflected not just talent, but transformation.

"I love the kid [Mezas] and his family. He put in a lot of work improving at a position that was new for him," Young says. "His work rate has never been questioned, and this season it went to another level. He was one of our best performers with his work rate and technical ability to finish chances, and he's a great team player." 

Elsewhere, PABLO ZAVALA's vision helped dictate build-ups when healthy. MATTHEW DEVANEY's engine drove the attack forward. ARTHUR SOUZA generated chances and leadership, and younger players like Jackson Stubbs, Misa Rangel, Ebuka Bright-Osigwe, and Tito Don Juan took steps forward that will shape what comes next.

The season ended the way it often unfolded, with dominance in spurts and frustration at the margins. In the LSC semifinals, St. Edward's outshot Lubbock Christian 15–2 after halftime, pushing relentlessly, only to see the equalizer remain elusive.

Heart was never the issue. Consistency was.

And maybe that's the most honest measure of 2025. The Hilltoppers proved they belonged in every conversation that mattered. They finished 6-2-2 in conference play, second in the standings, and showed they could beat anyone, anywhere. What they have yet to do is finish the story on their terms.

The sun set on St. Edward's 2025 season earlier than the Hilltoppers wanted. Still, the bright lights of Lewis-Chen Family Field remain with lofty expectations fully visible to illuminate a brighter tomorrow.