October 1, 2010
San Antonio – Members of the St. Mary’s University men’s soccer team stayed late at St. Mary’s Soccer Field on Friday, discussing a familiar refrain.
How, after believing they had outplayed the opponent once again, did the scoreboard read University of Texas-Permian Basin 4, St. Mary’s 0?
“It’s the same old song,” coach Que Willis said. “If we’re going to have the ball and create this many chances, we’ve got to put them away.”
Though St. Mary’s (2-5) outshot Texas-Permian Basin 11-7, UTPB converted four of its seven shots into costly goals.
Some of that could be attributed to plain bad luck, as St. Mary’s Eduardo Serrano (Fr., Dallas) had a shot hit the crossbar with the Rattlers trailing 2-0 in the second half. Then there was UTPB’s third goal, which transpired off a rebound with nearly 10 minutes remaining. Forty-seven seconds later, UTPB got its fourth goal.
No matter the circumstances, Willis said the Rattlers must be willing to take ownership over losses such as Friday’s if they are going to turn the corner and see their immense talent translate onto the scoreboard.
“It just wasn’t good enough,” Willis said. “We had a lot of guys take it for granted. That’s just the bottom line, it’s not good enough.”
Several days after defeating Heartland Conference-leading St. Edward’s University on the road, St. Mary’s is now 1-3 in league play with the loss.