SAN ANTONIO — IZAIAH GARZA gave St. Edward's men's soccer a first-half lead, and goalkeeper KALEO PEREZ-FRANCIS made eight saves, but two second-half goals from Sebastian Poblete lifted St. Mary's to a 2-1 win in Saturday's Battle of the Saints at Cornerstone Christian High School.
The Hilltoppers weathered early pressure and capitalized on Garza's work in the attacking third to carry a 1-0 lead into halftime. St. Mary's answered with two goals less than nine minutes apart, then held off St. Edward's late push for the equalizer.
Perez-Francis anchored the Hilltoppers through the opening half, making four saves as the Rattlers held a 7-3 advantage in shots and earned five corner kicks. He denied Kai Louviere and Lewis Boney early, then stopped consecutive attempts from Louviere and Eduardo Fernandez five seconds apart in the 28th minute.
Garza broke through at 32:22, intercepting a St. Mary's free kick in the Hilltoppers' attacking third. He drove toward the center of the penalty area and finished from roughly five yards out for his second goal of the season.
St. Edward's maintained its advantage through halftime and the opening 15 minutes of the second half before Poblete equalized at 60:37. Louviere played a one-touch pass to Boney near the corner of the penalty area, and Boney crossed to Poblete for the finish in front of goal.
Perez-Francis turned away two more shots from Poblete over the next six minutes, keeping the match level. The Rattlers took the lead at 69:09, however, when Ryan Guillaume won possession near midfield and found Poblete near the six-yard box for a left-footed finish into the bottom-right corner.
The Hilltoppers responded with consecutive shots from Garza and SHUNJI WATANABE in the 75th minute, both sailing high, followed by a blocked Watanabe attempt in the 77th.
EASTON JONES provided a late spark off the bench, putting two attempts toward goal in the final six minutes. His first was blocked following a Hilltopper corner kick, and St. Mary's goalkeeper Nichita Misac saved his second at 88:19.
Garza and Watanabe led St. Edward's with three shots each, while Jones added two. Perez-Francis made four saves in each half as St. Mary's finished with a 19-9 advantage in shots, including 10-2 in shots on goal.
St. Edward's moves to 2-6-2 overall and 1-3 in Lone Star Conference play. St. Mary's improves to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in conference.
