LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International University men's soccer (5-0-1, 1-0-0 Lone Star Conference) kicked off Lone Star Conference play with a 2-0 home victory St. Mary's University (3-2-1, 0-1-0 Lone Star Conference). With the win, the Dustdevils now extend their unbeaten streak to six matches and they now improve to a record of 10-2-1 at home against the Rattlers dating back to 2007.

The opening half was a defensive stalemate as both teams did not find the back of the net. Midfielder Ruben Nielsen fired off the first shot of the match 7:02 in but it sailed left of the goal. 

Ollie Wright took the first shot attempt for the Rattlers but was stopped by Dustdevil goalkeeper Josh Jones with 19:18 showing on the game clock. The shot on goal by Wright would ultimately be the lone shot on goal of the first half.  

In the second half, forward Elias Perales ignited the Dustdevils' offense as he finished a feed from Nielsen that beat Rattler netminder Jacob Sayle to give TAMIU a 1-0 lead at the 51:20 mark.
 
Only 4:23 later, Dustdevil forward Nadav Datner scored his first goal of the season that was set up by Nielsen that extended gave them a two-goal advantage (2-0). Nielsen's feed marked his first career two-assist match.

In the 58th minute, Jones made two spectacular saves as he denied both Luis Sanchez and Edu Toiny-Pendred to keep the shutout intact. 

The Rattlers put together five corner kicks in under three minutes (86:47-89:34) but the TAMIU defense refused to budge to settle the 2-0 win. 

TAMIU led the way in shots on goal (4-3) while St. Mary's held the advantage in corner kicks (8-4) and shots (9-7). 
 
Jones made a trio of saves in his first shutout of the season and the second of his career. Sayle  made a pair of stops for St. Mary's in defeat.
 
The Dustdevils will remain at home on Thursday, Oct. 3 for another Lone Star Conference showdown against St. Edward's University at 7 p.m.