Dallas Baptist University Athletics

THE RUNDOWN
After a daylong postponement due to heavy rain in San Antonio, DBU (7-5-6, 3-2-5 LSC) battled St. Mary's (11-5-2, 6-2-2 LSC) to a 1-0 final in the Lone Star Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday. With the loss, the Patriots' 2026 campaign closes in the LSC postseason for the fifth straight year.
 
The Rattlers came out firing against the Patriots, logging seven shots within the opening 18 minutes. As St. Mary's kept driving into its attacking third, the DBU defense, led by two Sean Mattivi saves, held firm, preventing any shots from finding the net.
 
Over the next 10 minutes, Liam Spiller and Lando deLeeuw put individual shots on target, but the Rattlers' Nichita Misac picked up a pair of saves.
 
The closing minutes of the first half played to a stalemate, as the two opponents earned a pair of corner kicks apiece, but neither squad found an opening for a shot in the last 17 minutes of the opening frame, leaving the score 0-0 at halftime.
 
The second half turned into an offensive onslaught, with the two teams combining for 21 in the second 45 minutes, but the shot that proved to be the most important was the one taken by St. Mary's Dyllan Mendoza in the 54th minute. Moving into the vicinity of the penalty arc, Mendoza received a pass from Kai Louviere and launched a chance past Mattivi and into the bottom right portion of the frame for a goal and a 1-0 Rattler lead.
 
The Patriots maintained pressure on St. Mary's into the final minutes of the match. In the closing seven minutes, DBU logged four corner kick opportunities that produced shots from James Webb and Mattivi, but the Patriots could not find a way to break the Rattler defense. Erik Oliveira fired one more time in the final seconds, but his low liner was denied by Misac, bringing DBU's season to a close with a 1-0 decision.
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- With Sunday's loss, DBU's season ends in the LSC Tournament quarterfinals, marking the fifth straight year the Patriots have ended their season in the postseason.
- Under the leadership of first-year head coach Brad Bankhead, the Patriots posted a 7-5-6 overall record in 2026, the best in DBU Men's Soccer's Division II era (since 2012).
- The Patriot defense set a program record with a 1.00 goals against average in 2026.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8 - Senior goalkeeper Sean Mattivi registered a career-high eight saves on Sunday.
23 - Twenty-three Patriots saw action in their season finale.
272 - With 259 shots in 2026, DBU set a new team record for shots in a season.
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