November 6, 2011
San Antonio – Playing in his final game as a Rattler, Rodrigo Ramos’ heart was unquestionably in Sunday’s game against Newman.
But it was his head that ended up winning it.
Ramos’ header off of a free kick in the 55th minute proved the difference in a 2-1 victory, capping off a remarkable triumph on Senior Day in which the Rattlers scored a pair of unanswered goals to overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit.
The goal marked Ramos’ (Sr., The Woodlands, Texas) third of the season and followed a second-half strike from Eduardo Serrano (So., Dallas), who netted his team-leading fourth of the season.
With the victory, St. Mary’s improved to 4-12 and 3-5 in Heartland Conference play, while dropping Newman to 6-11-1 and 3-4-1 in league competition.
Like Ramos, fellow senior Michael Hasbach, a Colleyville, Texas native, played in his final game as a Rattler. He finished the season as the team leader in assists with four.
The Jets actually outshot the Rattlers 10-6, but the Rattlers made the most out of their shots, while goalkeeper Patrick Kasperitis (RS-So., Corpus Christi, Texas) recorded three saves to help stymie Newman’s attack.
And perhaps expected of a match so tight, things ended up getting chippy before game’s end. There were a total of seven yellow cards and one red card drawn, with four yellows being shown on St. Mary’s and the rest on Newman, including one following the completion of the game.