Saint Mary's took advantage of Dixie State's miscues early in the game for their second-straight 2-0 victory on Monday afternoon at Saint Mary's Stadium to improve to 3-1 on the season.

FAST START
Just three minutes into the match sophomore Tyler Hardin put the ball into the box and two Trailblazer defenders tried to play it. When both Dixie State players each put a foot on the ball to try to kick it away at the same time, it led to a loose ball just to the right of the penalty mark. Saint Mary's Senior Philippe Van der Lof pounced on the gift in the box and shot it past the keeper for a 1-0 Gaels lead on his first goal of the year in his first start of the season after missing the first three matches with an injury.
 
It would be deja vu just over a minute later when two Dixie State players collided with each other leaving another loose ball on the pitch for Saint Mary's to pounce on, this time it would be scooped up on the dribble by freshman Gael Quintero halfway between the midfield stripe and the penalty box.
 
Quintero would set up sophomore Tyler Hardin in the right side of the box and Hardin would stutter step on a defender to create space and fire a shot all the way across into the lower left of the goal past the diving Dixie State keeper for an early 2-0 lead. Sophomore Andrew Rotter would show his speed up the left side of the pitch with some great runs to put pressure on the Trailblazer's defense, but couldn't quite get off a shot on those opportunities.
 
The scoring chances Dixie State would muster in the rest of the first half would often be off target, usually firing their shots too high. And while the second half was more evenly played than the first, the Gaels kept the pressure on and had more quality chances than the Trailblazers.
 
KASH RULES
It wouldn't be until the final 25 minutes that Dixie State would put some true scoring opportunities together, but five of those shots were blocked by Saint Mary's defenders and sophomore Kash Oladapo would make four of his five saves late in the second half, including a spectacular diving save to his left, to notch his second shutout in his first two collegiate starts.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's Men's Soccer will go on the road for the first time this season to take on #22 Grand Canyon University in Phoenix for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, September 10.

#GaelsRise — Single game tickets are on sale through the month of September! To select your game and your tickets, click HERE!