The University of St. Thomas - Houston completed its first weekend as part of the NCAA competition this past week and came out victorious. All sports that competed (Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Volleyball, and Cross Country) picked up their first wins in NCAA Division III. 

Men's Soccer Tops Concordia 3-1:

The first half saw the Celts down early as Concordia drew a red card on Ivan Leon, leaving the Celts with ten players on the field. The woes continued as Concordia capitalized on a goal in the 41st minute to take the lead. However, in the second half, the Celt offense came out firing. Sparked by a goal by Daniel Castro in the 50th minute, the Celts tied the game. Shortly after, Ian Alvarez notched a goal for himself. Finally, closing out Celt scoring in the 89th minute was Taty Aleman to give the Celts the 3-1 victory. In goal for the Celts, Rodrigo Lazo picked up his first victory of the season playing a full 90 minutes and recording three saves. 

Women's Soccer Powers Past Howard Payne 2-1:

The Celts earned the first NCAA victory for St. Thomas by consistently pressuring the Yellow Jacket defense. Opening up the scoring for St. Thomas was Karson Funderburk in the 26th minute. Mariana Alvarez-Garcia assisted her. Shortly after, Garcia would notch a goal for herself in the 43rd minute to make the score 2-0 following a pass from Blake DelaMater. Howard Payne would launch an attack that would see them score in the 67th minute to cut the lead in half. However, Carmen Lozada would hold strong in goal and not allow another point after, securing a St. Thomas victory. 

Volleyball Sweeps Widener for Commanding First Win:

From the opening set, the Celts found themselves ahead with a 10-5 advantage. Then, capped off by an attack error from Widener, St. Thomas won the first set 25-14. Following this, the Celt defense held strong, limiting Widener to just 10 points across the set. Priscilla Pham logged a timely service ace midway through giving momentum to UST to the end. In the third and final set, St. Thomas went on an early 3-0 run and never looked back as they won 25-16. 

Freshman Audrey Cataline led the Celts with 11 kills across the match, as Kendall Howard dished out 14 assists. Cataline also led with nine digs, and Paige Havel tagged three service aces in the contest. 

Men's Cross Country takes first at Celt Opener

Men's Cross Country took first place at the Celt Opener this past Friday. Among a field of a Division One team, St. Thomas secured victory. 

Sophomore Jhancarlos Carpio led the way with a first-place finish, posting an impressive time of 15:50 in the 5k. Not far behind was James Urbina at 16 minutes flat in 4th place. Both Urbina and Carpio rounded out the top five finishes for St. Thomas.

Women's Cross Country Wins Celt Opener

Women's Cross Country took first place at the Celt Opener this past Friday. Three Celts placed first, second and third against a field containing a Division One program. 

Senior Sophia Sanchez impressed at the meet, posting a time of 14:06 to secure first place. Right behind her was Ashley Martinez at 14:08 in second. Rounding out the top three was Freshman Victoria Ramirez who impressed with a time of 14:16.

For more information on UST Athletics visit ustcelts.com for all upcoming games and scores.