MORAGA, Calif. - For the first time in eleven years and as members of the West Coast Conference, Seattle U and Saint Mary's will face off to kickoff the 2025 conference season. The Redhawks officially joined the WCC for the 2025-26 athletic year and will head to Moraga for the first time since 2014 to take on the Gaels this Saturday.
Saint Mary's concluded their non-conference slate last week with another road draw against Sacramento State. They enter conference play winless but with four draws as they continue to be a tough matchup week in and week out. The Gaels will look to start WCC play 1-0 for the first time since 2021. Saturday's match can be streamed live on ESPN+ and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
MSOC | Saint Mary's vs. Seattle U | Saint Mary's Stadium
Moraga, Calif. | September 27th | 1:00 PM
Live Stats |
ESPN+ |
Tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
Four Draws Heading into WCC Play…
Saint Mary's remains winless heading into conference play this week but that does not tell the whole story as they have four draws on the season and two of their three defeats have been decided by just one goal. All four draws have also come on the road as the Gaels continue to prove to be a tough get week in and week out.
The Gaels concluded their non-conference play with five consecutive road games and went 0-1-4 over that stretch including gritty road draws against UC Davis and 19th ranked Kansas City. Adding to a unique start to the season, the Gaels have also scored first in six of their seven matches and are just looking to hold off late pushes from their opponents to begin to rattle off some wins.
A season ago, Saint Mary's tied their program record with six draws, originally set back in 2006. They currently have four draws to start their 2025 campaign.
Historic Matchup with New WCC Member Seattle U…
The 2025 season will be the first for the Redhawks in the West Coast Conference after spending the last 13 in the Western Athletic Conference. Seattle U won a combined 10 conference championships between regular season and tournament, and posted a record of 83-19-14 during their time in the WAC.
The two programs last met in 2014 where Saint Mary's scored four goals in a home victory. Saturday's match will mark the first all-time as WCC opponents.
Series History…
Saint Mary's and Seattle U have only met twice in their series history, once in 1978 and most recently in 2014. The Redhawks won the first meeting 4-1 in Moraga but returned to Saint Mary's Stadium to take a 4-2 defeat in 2014.
Saturday's match will mark just the third matchup in the series history and the first with the two as WCC member programs after Seattle U left the WAC to join the West Coast Conference at the end of the 2024-25 athletic year.
ABOUT THE REDHAWKS (2-3-3, 0-0)
The Redhawks graduated four of their top five goal scorers from last season and lost 53% of their total goal production in whole. Edgar Leon (6), River Stewart (3), and Andre Philibbosian (2) are the only returning multi-goal scorers from last season's team.
Edgar Leon was named to the Preseason All-WCC Team ahead of the 2025 season, the only Redhawk representative on the team. Leon burst onto the scene last season as a freshman, recording eight goals and assisting on another for 13 points. His performance earned him a spot on the All-WAC Second Team and All-Freshman Team.
Seattle U came in a tie for 4th place in the Preseason WCC Coaches Poll, level with San Francisco. The Redhawks also received votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 preseason poll. Seattle enters the first week of conference play with a record of 2-3-3 and are unbeaten over their last three matches. Their two wins have come in dominant fashion against UC Davis and most recently Denver, outscoring those two 7-0.
Kickoff is slated for 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 27th and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
