BURNABY, BC –  In their 2022 season opener, the Saints faced the defending national champion Golden Eagles. SMU put forth a valiant effort but surrendered six goals in their 6-0 loss.
 
Playing a squad coming off a national championship is never easy and tonight in Burnaby was no exception for the Saint Martin's University men's soccer team. As of the opening kick-off, the Saints had to make several adjustments to their starting lineup which is part and parcel of the demands of an active preseason. Nonetheless, the men from Lacey put out a solid effort in the opening minutes of the game.  

Cal State-LA scored four first half goals: Two of those four came from well run corners and the other two from the run of play.  In the second half, LA added the final two goals of the match off a well taken rebound goal and a well struck free kick.  On the night, the Golden Eagles had 15 shots and 10 were on target.  Of those 10 shots, Saints goalkeeper Hunter Askland had four saves.  
Despite falling short on the score line, Saint Martin's had four shots on goal, two of which were on target. SMU's Ethan Jud had a great scoring chance as he received the ball after joining a pressing action and his strong drive was saved and glanced off the Golden Eagle goal post.  

Saints head men's soccer coach Rob Walker said, "we've played LA a ton over the years and while their players change over time, their ability in attack and defense really present challenges that help you in the long run.  We've had several issues that dictate who played tonight and to be fair, some of the boys that stepped in  played really well and impressed us.  Some of our personnel issues will change going into our match Sunday versus Hawaii-Pacific."

The addition of junior midfielder Nate McLellan, senior defender Hayden Gaunder and freshman Charles Ganu were bright spots for the Saints. Coach Walker added, "in comparison to our exhibitions, our regular starters played the game with great effort and their 'fight' never quit.  At first glance we may not have looked like we belonged, but there's so much we can take from LA's quality, that this is a game we would like to play again."

The Saints make their only non-conference appearance of the season at home on Sunday, playing Hawaii-Pacific University at 1 PM at Saints Field. Live stats will be available on smusaints.com.