MSOC | Gaels Shutout No. 25 LMU 1-0 in Season Finale

Saturday, November 11

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Saint Mary's College of California

8-7-2, 3-4-0

LMU

7-4-6, 2-3-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Saint Mary's (CA)	0	1	1
LMU	0	0	0

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MSOC | Gaels Shutout No. 25 LMU 1-0 in Season Finale

11/11/2023 10:10:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – Saint Mary's Men's Soccer finished the 2023 season with a bang, by upsetting No. 25 LMU 1-0 in the season finale. It was the Gaels first win over a top-25 ranked team since defeating No. 16 San Diego 3-0 in 2019, and guaranteed Saint Mary's of finishing .500 or better overall for a 10th straight season.

DEFENSIVE BATTLE
The teams were tied at zeros at the half, but the Gaels had eight shots on target to the Lions' four, and had three good scoring chances in the first half.

Bastian Toelhoej almost put one home in the 13th minute after a long cross from Wade Muttitt from the other side of the box. Toelhoej redirected the ball with his right foot while on the run and forced the LMU keeper to get down on one knee and corral the shot.

Luke Lawrence would blast a long-distance shot that force a leaping save in the 20th minute. Riley Lynch drew a foul from just outside the penalty area to the left of the goal, and his free kick hit the side of the net on a left-footed shot.

GAELS BREAK THROUGH
The Lions had a corner kick in the 66th minute, but Louis Sterobo headed it out of the box and LMU's follow-up shot sailed way high, going up onto the roof of a nearby building.

Keeper Jack Landreth caught the Lions trotting back the other way, and kicked a long, low, liner downfield past the LMU back line and onto the foot of Muttitt. The Lions defense would get back to recover, but the Gaels would still get a corner kick out of the rush.

Lynch would put the corner kick to the left of the Lions goal, and the ball would be controlled by Muttitt. He would battle with an LMU defender before getting the ball to Toelhoej, who would put a cross directly in front of the goal mouth inside the six-yard box.

It would end up on the foot of redshirt freshman Nick Strangio who had his back to the goal. But Strangio didn't let facing the wrong way stop him, as he pushed the ball into the goal with a back-footed shot, on a motion similar to pushing a bike pedal. The goal was Strangio's second of the season and it was Toelhoej's second assist to make it 1-0 SMC in the 67th minute.

The Gaels defense would force LMU to miss the target on their ensuing shots, and Strangio would block a shot in the 81st minute. The Lions best scoring chance of the second half came in the 88th minute when an LMU attacker managed to hop through the SMC defense and put a shot on goal from point-blank range.

Landreth was ready however and made a kick save to preserve the win and the shutout. The Gaels keeper would make three saves for his fifth shutout of the season.

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