SAN ANTONIO (March 30, 2020) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's soccer team finished out its 2019 season with an 11-6-2 overall record and 6-2-1 record in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). In the Saints' 13th season, they earned the No. 3 seed in the RRAC Championships and fell to LSU-Shreveport 0-3.
See overall record books here.
Luan Balestieri, Charbel Elbayeh, Patrick Pye and Miguel Sanchez earned All-Conference Second-Team honors, while Gustavo Borba was an Honorable Mention selection and Raul Posadas was the Champions of Character winner. Bernard Alvarenga and Norberto Lira received All-Tournament recognition.
During the season, Mitchell Medrano received RRAC Offensive Player of the Week selection after he netted three goals in a 2-0 week for the Saints. The junior forward provided the difference with a goal as OLLU edged Jarvis Christian College, 3-2, and he tacked on a pair of goals in a 4-1 victory over Texas College.
The men played in four overtime games. On Sept. 4, the Saints defeated the University of St. Thomas 2-1. On Sept. 9, the Saints and Wayland Baptist University tied 0-0 after two overtime periods. Later in the month on Sept. 26, the Saints defeated Texas A&M University – Texarkana 3-2. Their final overtime game was on Oct. 17. Once again, the Saints tied 0-0 to LSU-Alexandria after two overtime periods.
The Saints' biggest defeat of the year was against NCAA D3 Schreiner University, 5-1. The men had two shutouts in the season. They had a total of 78 corner kicks, 235 shots and 86 saves.
Individual leaders include Elbayeh, who tallied eight goals, while Medrano had five and Balestieri had four. Medrano also had four assists. Lira led the team in total shots with 35, followed by Balestieri with 34 and Elbayeh with 25. Lira also led the team in shots on goal with 18, Balestieri with 17 and Elbayeh with 16. Elbayeh, Lira, Samuel Villegas and Medrano had two game-winning goals each.
Keelin Garrity recorded 67 saves this year and entered the Saints' Record Book as third-best in a season. He had a 7-3 season.
Head Coach Shane Hurley, who has coached the Saints all 13 seasons, has an overall 131-80-18 record and 65-33-8 conference record.
The Saints will begin their 14th season in August 2020. Fans will be treated to a variety of upgrades to the soccer field. A brand-new scoreboard will be installed, as well as ADA-compliant bleachers and a perimeter fence – all of which is being provided by J. Robertson LLC, the Joshua Robertson Foundation and the Robertson family. Joshua's sister, Erica Robertson, played for the Saints' women's soccer team from 2015-2018.