Women's Soccer Travels to Portales

Saturday, October 1 • Portales, N.M. • Al Whitehead Field at Greyhound Stadium
St. Mary's (7-2-1, 1-2-1) at Eastern New Mexico (3-6, 1-3) • 1 p.m. CT/12 p.m. MT

Back On Track: St. Mary's looks to get back to its winning ways on Saturday at Eastern New Mexico. The Rattlers did not score in either of their last two games for the first time all season. The Greyhounds are 3-6 overall and 1-3 in Lone Star Conference play, while StMU is 7-2-1 on the year and 1-2-1 in league action.

Needed Rest: For the first time all season, the Rattlers only have one game scheduled this week, having a rare midweek game off. The timing couldn't have been better as the team played four games in the 10 days prior with a 1-2-1 record after starting the season 6-0.

Series History: St. Mary's is 5-2-2 all-time against Eastern New Mexico, but this will be the first meeting in Portales since 2018. The Rattlers have not lost to the Greyhounds since 2008 and are 3-0-2 in the last five matches, including a 1-1 double overtime tie a season ago.

Top 25: St. Mary's ranks 16th in the nation and third in the Lone Star Conference in assists per game, averaging 2.00. The team also ranks 17th nationally and leads the league in total points with 70. The Rattlers' 7.00 points per game is also the best in the Lone Star and ranks 22nd among the 253 Division II schools. Individually, senior Megan Copeland is 11th in the nation and third in the league with her three game-winning goals and senior Juni Ejere is 12th in the nation with 0.89 goals per game and 16th with 2.11 points per game. Both numbers are good for second in the Lone Star.

Keep Your Eye On the Goal: The Rattlers currently have three players who rank in the top 10 in the Lone Star Conference in shot accuracy. Senior Juni Ejere is ranked fourth (.625), sophomore Eliza Merrion is sixth (.600) and senior Megan Copeland is ninth (.583).

Best Start Ever: The 6-0 start to the season is the best start in school history, bettering a 5-0 start by three different teams.

Made To Be Broken: St. Mary's is only 10 games into its season and already senior Megan Copeland is tied for sixth in single season history with three game-winning goals. Copeland's total is the most in a year since Heather Dawson also had three game winners in 2016. She needs just two more to tie the school record of five from Kyle Hyslop in 2005. 

It's An Honor: Senior Juni Ejere was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week each of the first two weeks of the season, while fellow senior Megan Copeland earned Defensive Player of the Week honors last week. 

Goals-a-Plenty: St. Mary's has scored 25 times in the first 10 games of the season with 10 different players finding the back of the net. Senior Juni Ejere leads the team with eight, while Megan Copeland has four, and Eliza Merrion has three. Copeland also leads the way with four assists, while Merrion and Ejere each has three.