SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The University of St. Thomas men’s soccer team lost, 2-1, to Occidental in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament on Saturday, November 11, in San Antonio, Texas. The Celts finished the year with a record 13-4-2, including the program’s third-straight SCAC Tournament Title.
In the 34th minute, St. Thomas struck first as junior Daniel Castro took a feed from Daniel Espinosa in behind the defense, beat the goalkeeper cutting to his right and calmly slotted the ball in the side net. Castro’s goal, his 14th of the season, got St. Thomas into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Occidental didn’t wait long into the second half before equalizing as Christian Corcoran put away his fourth of the year off an assist from Joey Schwartz in the 53rd minute.
St. Thomas continued to battle and push for the go ahead goal, outshooting Occidental 8-5 over the next 36 minutes. However, the Tigers would stun the Celts late as Oury Diane delivered a goal in the 89th minute to secure the 2-1 victory and send Occidental into the second round.
Occidental outshot St. Thomas, 17-15, including a slim 8-7 edge in shots on goal. Gustavo Otero finished with six saves in net for the Celts.
