Moraga, CA – The Saint Mary’s(m) men’s soccer team had a strong second-half but could not overcome a first-half goal as Loyola Marymount defeated the Gaels 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Saint Mary’s Stadium.

The Gaels kept the pressure on the Lions, holding a 9-1 advantage on corner kicks, including taking six corners in the second half.

“We were definitely the aggressive team in the second half,” said head coach Adam Cooper. “We just did not finish on those opportunities.”

Loyola Marymount’s David Ponce scored in the 17th minute of the game, which proved to be enough for the win. Ponce took a game-high five shots, including four on goal to pace LMU. Artur Jozkowicz and Rafael Baca assisted on the goal.

Ponce found the right lower corner of the net, striking a ball past SMC goalkeeper Doug Herrick.

Saint Mary’s was paced by Dylan Leslie with four shots, while Trevor Newquist had three shots on goal. Justin Grider and Peter Nguyen also attempted shots on goal for SMC.

Herrick finished the game with five saves while LMU’s Jack McCormack also tallied five saves, all coming in the second half.

Leslie served up several great corner kicks in the second half, but LMU was able to stop SMC’s scoring opportunities.

The final shot count resulted in 14 for the Gaels and 10 for the Lions. The total foul count ended up with 12 called on LMU and 10 on Saint Mary’s.

With the loss, Saint Mary’s drops to 5-3-1, 1-1-0 West Coast Conference, while LMU improves to 6-3-1, 2-0-0 WCC.

It will be a short practice week for the Gaels as Saint Mary’s is back in action on Wednesday, October 6, when it travels to San Francisco to take on the Dons. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m. on the USF campus.