October 9, 2010
San Antonio – Carolina Hernandez bolted one of the law buildings on the St. Mary’s University campus Saturday, and proceeded to race around end of the soccer field toward the Rattlers’ bench.
The senior from El Paso, Texas had just finished taking her LSAT, an exam that overlapped with St. Mary’s Heartland Conference game against Newman University.
Aware of the time crunch, Hernandez took the test in full uniform, hoping to maximize her potential time on the field.
So with 31 minutes remaining in the second half and the Rattlers trailing by a goal, there came Hernandez, who only needed to stretch before taking the field moments later.
In the end, she was inches away from writing a Hollywood-type script.
Eyeing the tying shot, Hernandez drilled a header off the crossbar in the 87th minute, leaving the Rattlers just short in a 1-0 loss on Senior Appreciation Day at St. Mary’s Soccer Field.
Hernandez was the reigning Heartland Conference Player of the Week and had totaled six goals over the past four games.
Newman netted what proved to be the winning goal on Amanda Knabe’s strike in the 18th minute.
St. Mary’s outshot Newman 10-8, while Rattlers freshman goalkeeper Felicia Lombardo (New Braunfels, Texas) saved three of the Jets’ four shots on goal.
The loss snapped a six-game stretch in which the Rattlers hadn’t lost, leaving them at 6-5-1 overall and 3-1 in conference. St. Mary’s is ranked eighth in the South Central Region in the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.