October 14, 2012
San Antonio – Plenty of time went into crafting the perfect halftime script commemorating the elder statesmen of the St. Mary’s men’s soccer squad Saturday.
But no one could out write the script the players wrote themselves on Senior Day 2012.
Seniors Anthony Bustos, Aaron Stares and Andrew Carrasco all netted goals in a 5-2 rout of Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday, while freshman Jack Wolf added a pair of goals to assist the seniors’ efforts before nearly 150 fans at Northside ISD Soccer Field.
Bustos (Sr., Helotes, Texas) scored in the 12th minute to kick off the festivities, part of four first-half goals for the Rattlers (3-7-1, 2-3-1) en route to building a 5-0 lead in their home finale.
“We were all pumped for the senior game,” said Bustos, whose Rattlers notched their first home win of the season. “As soon as I scored, I ran straight to my teammates because I did it for them. We needed something to get us together and back to a unit. I did it for my teammates.”
St. Mary’s dominated the offensive pace of the game, despite holding just a 13-11 advantage in shots. But eight of those shots were on goal, and a rapid-fire pace that saw the Rattlers outshoot the Falcons 11-2 in the first half helped ensure this would be their day.
Bustos, Carrasco (Sr., Corpus Christi, Texas), Aaron Stares (Sr., Swindon, England), Jose Chavez (Garland, Texas) and Julian Martinez (Sr., San Antonio) all were honored on the day while playing in the final home game of their brilliant careers.
Rattlers keeper Patrick Kasperitis (RS-Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) picked up the win in the net, collecting five saves on the day.
The victory moved the Rattlers into fifth place in the Heartland Conference standings. St. Mary’s will be back in action on Thursday, when they travel to take on Oklahoma Christian at 7 p.m. in Edmond, Okla.