AUSTIN, Texas — After spending much of September searching for a breakthrough, St. Edward's men's soccer found one emphatically Wednesday night.
ISAAC GUAJARDO scored twice and added an assist, while five goals came from four different Hilltoppers as St. Edward's rolled past Sul Ross State 5-0 at Lewis-Chen Family Field. The victory moved St. Edward's to 2-5-2 overall and 1-2 in Lone Star Conference play.
The Hilltoppers controlled 65 percent of possession and finished with advantages of 25-8 in shots, 9-2 in shots on goal, and 9-2 on corner kicks. Kaleo Francis made two saves for his first clean sheet of the season.
St. Edward's applied pressure from the opening whistle but initially struggled to turn it into a lead. BARTEK ZABEK drew a penalty in the 11th minute, only for Sul Ross goalkeeper Fernando Hernandez to make the save.
Ten minutes later, the match turned decisively.
JUAN SEGURA connected with Guajardo for the freshman's first collegiate goal at 20:01. Sul Ross's keeper and ALEX LOYA were in a confrontation immediately after the goal, resulting in a yellow card for Loya and a red for Hernandez, leaving the Lobos with 10 men for the remainder of the match.
St. Edward's needed less than a minute to capitalize again. Segura picked up his second assist of the night, setting up IZAIAH GARZA for his first goal of the season at 20:58 to give the Hilltoppers a 2-0 advantage.
The Hilltoppers took the two-goal lead into halftime after controlling 70 percent of possession and generating nine shots and four corners in the opening 45 minutes. Francis preserved the shutout with saves on Diego Uribe early and Romain Bricier late in the half.
St. Edward's wasted little time putting the match away after halftime.
SHUNJI WATANABE scored just 1:47 into the second half, giving the senior his second goal of the season and extending the lead to 3-0. The Hilltoppers continued to pour numbers forward, producing 16 shots over the final 45 minutes.
Guajardo struck again in the 57th minute, finishing a feed from RILEY BAROLDY for his second goal of the night. Nine minutes later, Guajardo returned the favor, setting up Baroldy for his first goal of the season and a 5-0 advantage.
Guajardo finished with two goals and an assist on four shots, putting three on frame. Baroldy supplied a goal and an assist off the bench, while Segura recorded two assists. Watanabe and Garza rounded out a balanced scoring effort in which four different Hilltoppers found the back of the net.
The five goals were St. Edward's most in a match this season, providing the offensive breakthrough the Hilltoppers had been searching for after navigating a demanding opening month.
St. Edward's now turns its attention to the Battle of the Saints, traveling to San Antonio to face St. Mary's on Saturday.
