The University of St. Thomas Men's Soccer team won their NCAA National Tournament round of 32 match vs the Pacific Lutheran Utes. With this 2-0 victory, the Celts punched their ticket to the sweet sixteen next weekend in Chicago!
The match opened up with St. Thomas offense picking up where they left off, just piling shot after shot on their opponent. Recording seven shots in the first 24 minutes of action, one went in as Taty Aleman scored his third of the tournament as the Celts took a 1-0 lead. From there, Pacific Lutheran went on defense for the rest of the half as they wanted to keep the score as is, however they were charged two cautions in the process. Their defensive efforts were successful as St. Thomas only got one goal in the first 45 minutes of play.
The first 15 minutes of the second half featured a stalemate between both teams. That was until Pacific Lutheran broke and was charged a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct. With this one man advantage, the Celts did nothing but impress as immediately following, Ayomide Salako scored to double the St. Thomas lead 2-0. From there, the Celts did nothing but control the pace of the match as the extra man proved to be the difference. Any late efforts from the Utes were met with a strong Celt defense that didnt break throughout the rest of the match. As the clock winded down, 17 total shots on offense propelled St. Thomas to the 2-0 victory.
Defensively, Rodrigo Lazo and his line stood tall limiting the Lutes to just four shots in the entire match. It was a clean sheet for the Celts as Lazo only needed one save to shut out the opponent. They also drew six cautions and one disqualification across 90 minutes to push the tide to St. Thomas' favor.
The University of St. Thomas Men's Soccer team is just the second program in SCAC history to win multiple games in one NCAA tournament.
Up next, Men's Soccer will travel to Chicago to face the Sectional Round of the NCAA National Tournament. With 16 teams remaining, the Celts will have a chance to secure a spot in the final four with two victories next week. Follow UST Athletics for all information.
