LAREDO, Texas – St. Mary’s forward Eduardo “Lalo” Serrano found the net twice in Wednesday’s Heartland Conference opener, but the Rattlers would have needed three more strikes from the talented sophomore to have mounted a comeback on this night.

Despite the Dallas native’s impressive showing, the Rattlers fell 5-2 to rival Texas A&M International before a hostile crowd of 350 at Dustdevil Field.

Serrano scored off a corner kick in the 61st minute to slice a 2-0 deficit in half, only to see TAMIU’s Diego Manzano-Cano net back-to-back goals to push the lead to 4-1 with 13 minutes left.

Serrano struck again in the 85th minute, scoring off another corner kick, but it was too late.

His goals marked his first and second of the season, with Michael Hasbach (Sr., Colleyville, Texas) assisting both.

TAMIU improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Rattlers dropped to 1-2, including 0-1 in Heartland Conference play.

The Rattlers were outshot 17-5, making life that much more difficult behind the net for goalkeepers David Schmelzer (So., Castroville, Texas) and Patrick Kasperitis (So., Corpus Christi, Texas).
The two shared time, with Kasperitis replacing Schmelzer for the final 13 minutes. Schmelzer (1-2) yielded four goals to go along with one save.

The Rattlers will have plenty of time to regroup, as they won’t hit the field again until facing Newman on the road on Sept. 16.

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