Final Week Looms Large for Women's Soccer

Tuesday, October 25 • Tyler • Citizens 1st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex
St. Mary's (10-3-3, 4-3-3) at UT Tyler (7-3-5, 2-3-5) • 5 p.m.

Saturday, October 9 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field • Senior Day
Lubbock Christian (8-2-6, 5-2-3) at St. Mary's • 1 p.m.
 

Final Week: St. Mary's concludes the regular season with its third-straight road match at UT Tyler on Tuesday before hosting Lubbock Christian on Saturday for Senior Day at 1 p.m. 

Important Games: The Rattlers need to win at least one of their final two games to earn a spot in the seven-team Lone Star Conference Tournament. StMU currently has 15 points and is tied for fifth with St. Edward's. UT Tyler is right behind the Rattlers with 11 points, while Lubbock Christian is one spot in front of StMU with 18 points. 

Shout Out for Shut Outs: Sophomore GK Rebecca Difronzo has six shutouts this season. That ties for the third-most in a single year in St. Mary's history. Rachel Major holds the record with 10 from 1998. For her career, Difronzo has nine shutouts, which ranks fifth on that list. Difronzo has also climbed to fifth in career history with both 138 saves and 2874 minutes played in just under two seasons. 

Double Digits: For the first time since 2015, the Rattlers have hit double figures in the win column. The team could still match or surpass the team's record for wins in a season (DII era) with 13. In 2006, 2010 and 2015 the club won 10 matches each, while both the 2002 and 2005 teams won 13.

Series History: Tuesday will be just the second meeting between the Rattlers and Patriots of UT Tyler. UTT won 2-0 in 2019 and the teams did not play in 2020 or 2021. The Rattlers did receive a forfeit win for conference standings only a season ago when the teams didn't get the game in. The Rattlers and Lady Chaps also played each other last season in the regular season finale, with StMU winning 1-0 to snap a five-game losing skid against LCU. All-time, StMU trails in the series 4-8-2 with a 2-2-1 record at home.

A Look Back: In the lone contest of the week, the Rattlers earned a 1-1 draw at #15 West Texas A&M. Barbara Smith fed Juni Ejere in the 58th minute for the first goal of the game. The Buffs tied the score in the 84th minute and the windy game ended in the 1-1 tie. It was the ninth goal of the year for Ejere and Smith's second assist.

In the Record Books: Fifth-year senior D Megan Copeland tied the school record with her fifth game-winning goal of the year in the 1-0 victory against Oklahoma Christian on Oct. 8. Copeland is third in the Lone Star Conference and ranks eighth nationally with her five game-winners. She tied Kyle Hyslop from 2005 on the school's single-season charts and her eight career game-winning goals is tied for third with Deann Lopez (2004-06). The school record is 13 by Hyslop (2003-06), while Kaitie Kasperitis (2011-14) is second with 10.