SHREVEPORT, La. -- Tied 2-2 following 110 minutes of back-and-forth action, fifth-seeded University of St. Thomas advanced 3-1 on penalty kicks over fourth-seeded Texas Lutheran University in Friday’s opening quarterfinal fixture of the 2020-21 SCAC Men’s Soccer Tournament at Centenary’s Mayo Field. Official Championships Website | Interview w/ Head Coach Ian Clerihew | Interview w/ Freshman Goalkeeper Rodrigo Lazo | Tournament Stats | Photos
In penalty kicks, the Celts converted all three of their penalty kicks and Rodrigo Lazo saved three of four Bulldog attempts to vault St. Thomas into its first-ever SCAC semifinal round.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- TLU took a 2-0 lead on St. Thomas after goals from Nicolas Medina (19:44) and Luis Green (56:06). Green assisted on the Medina goal, and Santiago Quinonez assisted on the second.
- St. Thomas counted with goals in the 72nd and 82nd minutes from Dany Ramirez (PK) and Gabe Salako, respectively.
- The Celts held a 28-11 edge in shots, including 4-2 advantage in the overtime periods. St. Thomas finished with 13 shots on target to six for TLU.
- In the penalty kick session, St. Thomas’ Tom Hultsch, Andres Marquez, and Ramirez all put away their shots. Jorge Ugaz was the lone Bulldog to convert on an attempt as Lazo came up huge with three big stops in net for the Celts.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Gabe Salako (F): 1 goal, 5 shots, 4 shots on goal
- Dany Ramirez (F): 1 goal, 7 shots, 3 shots on goal
- Joshua Lockhart (F): 4 shots, 1 shot on goal
- Tom Hultsch (D): 3 shots, 1 shot on goal
- Rodrigo Lazo (GK): 4 saves
TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Luis Green (F): 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
- Nicolas Medina (MF): 1 goal, 3 shots, 1 shot on goal
- Santiago Quinonez (F): 1 assist
- Nestor Ayala (D): 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
- Caleb Weed (GK): 11 saves
NOTABLES
- St. Thomas, making its SCAC Tournament debut, is the first team in tournament history to trail by two or more goals at any point in a match and advance into the next round.
- Programs making their tournament debut are now 5-8 all-time in their first appearance.
- There have been six fixtures in SCAC Tournament history that have decided by penalty kicks, TLU has been involved in three of them, falling to 1-2 in those contests. The Bulldogs advanced in the 2016 quarterfinals against Dallas.
- TLU's Green and Medina have combined for eight goals in five SCAC Tournament fixtures, scoring four goals each.
- Texas Lutheran ends its season with a 5-3-1 overall mark and falls to 6-5-3 all-time in SCAC Tournament history.
UP NEXT
St. Thomas (4-2-4) will face top-seeded Trinity in tomorrow’s first semifinal at 11 a.m. CT. The Tigers topped the Celts in the lone regular season meeting between the two squads, 5-2, back on March 28th in San Antonio. This will be the first meeting between the two programs in SCAC Tournament history.
