Houston, Texas - The University of St. Thomas men's soccer team came into Sunday afternoon's regular-season final match needing 3 points and a little help if they even wanted the opportunity to defend their 2023 SCAC Tournament Championship. Sitting a point back of three teams to qualify for the SCAC Tourney, the Celts had to get a win of their own and needed a draw in the Concordia-TLU match. With 20 minutes left in their own game, UST got word that the Concordia-TLU match ended in a 1-1 tie. Word from Seguin was precisely what the Celts needed to energize them from a 1-1 deadlock with a tough Austin College side with less than 15 minutes remaining into a 4-1 celebration. The victory catapulted the Celts ahead of both the Tornadoes and Bulldogs.

In the 77th minute, sophomore Brian Garcia took a chance from outside the box. He kept the ball low and sent it through some AC bodies; Kangaroos Keeper, Jason Baldwin, dove to his left and got a piece of the ball but only slowed it down before it squirted into the goal. Two minutes later, Tony Castro added another third goal, assisted by his brother, extending the lead to 3-1. The Celts maintained their momentum, and Hani Ahmadie capped off the scoring in the 85th minute, assisted again by Daniel Castro, sealing the victory at 4-1.

Austin College struck first, scoring a goal in the 8th minute to take an early lead and put the Celts in a precarious position, knowing a draw would not be good enough. The Celts searched for an equalizer, and their persistence paid off when Ian Alvarez netted the equalizer in the 42nd minute, assisted by Hani Ahmadie. This sent the teams into halftime, tied at 1-1 and in position to get a victory.

St. Thomas has won the SCAC Tournament the last three years and looks to defend its title and advance to the NCAA D3 National Tournament.

Match Notes

· UST outshot AC 18-5.

· Tony Castro recorded his 7th goal on the season.

· All-time leading scorer Daniel Castro contributed two assists.

· The SCAC Tournament will feature the same 4 teams as last year.

Up Next

The Celts play #5 Colorado College on Friday, November 8th, at 5:00 PM in the SCAC Conference Tournament. For updates, visit www.ustcelts.com or follow@USTathletics and @ustmsoccer on Instagram. For SCAC Tournament information, click here