THE RUNDOWN
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 7-ranked St. Edward’s University men’s soccer team dropped its first game of the season Friday night in a 2-0 loss on the road at No. 16-ranked Colorado Mesa at Walker Field.

The Hilltoppers were the more physical team in the first half, but the Mavericks outshot SEU 4-2. A pair of saves from sophomore goalkeeper William Tuffin kept the game tied 0-0 going into halftime.

Mesa struck quickly in the second half with a goal from Benji Delgadillo in the 53’ on a cross from Kevin Del Mazo into the penalty area. The Mavericks were issued a yellow card less than a minute later, but struck again in the 55’ as Del Mazo added a goal to his assist off a pass from Moshe Perez to the far post.

St. Edward’s offense produced three more shots and a corner-kick opportunity in the final 35 minutes of play, but the Mesa defense stood strong. The Hilltoppers’ defense turned away four shots from the Mavericks to maintain the final margin.

HIGHLIGHTS

·       Junior John-Mathew Blay-Tofey recorded the fifth shot of his career against the Mavericks.

·       Nate Coons has appeared in 55 games in his career.

·       Tuffin now has five-career saves.

·       Friday marks the first loss credited to Tuffin in his career – he is 4-1 overall.

·       Junior Dylan Armstrong has 100 career shots with 56 shots on goal.

·       Head Coach Brian Young’s all-time record is 138-84-26.

STAT OF THE GAME I
17 – St. Edward’s and Colorado Mesa were whistled for a combined 17 fouls in a hard-fought matchup of two nationally ranked teams.

STAT OF THE GAME II
.800 – Blay-Tofey has taken five career shots with four going on goal, giving him a career shots on-goal percentage of .800.

TOP QUOTE
Head Coach Brian Young on the loss…
“We didn’t have a good, intense start against Mesa and they were the better team overall. We didn’t pick up our intensity until it was too late in the game. It’s always a good match against Mesa, and they came out on top tonight.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Hilltoppers head to Durango, Colo. Sunday to play Fort Lewis College at 12 p.m. (CDT) at Dirks Field. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.

Follow St. Edward’s Men’s Soccer all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @SEUMSoccer

GoHilltoppers.com