Women's Soccer Hosts ENMU

Saturday, October 14 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
*Eastern New Mexico (1-7-4, 0-5-1) • 1 p.m. 
 

Lone Match: The St. Mary's Women's Soccer team plays only one match this week, hosting Eastern New Mexico on Saturday at 1 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's team.

Series History: The Rattlers hold a decent 6-2-2 in the all-time series against Eastern New Mexico and haven't lost to the Greyhounds since 2015. St. Mary's is 4-0-2 in the last six matches and is 3-0-1 all-time at home against ENMU. 

Among The League's Best: In six of the 12 games this season, sophomore Shelby Paniagua has either recorded an assist or a goal, leading the team with 14 points. She ranks in the top 10 in assists (0.33), points (1.17) and goals (0.42) per game.

By The Numbers: The Rattlers are +9 in goals this season and +34 in shots through the first 12 games in 2023. In nine of the last 10 matches, the StMU defense has allowed one or fewer goals.

Cornering The Market: St. Mary's ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 59th in the nation in corner kicks per game with 5.25. DBU leads the league with 7.89, while West Florida leads the nation with 9.45.

Climbing: The Rattlers climbed one spot to eighth in the United Soccer Coaches South Central Region poll. StMU is the third-highest ranked team in the Lone Star Conference, trailing DBU (2nd) and Texas Woman's (6th).

Lucky Number 13: Shelby Paniagua now has three game-winning goals this season, becoming the 13th player in St. Mary's history to tie for the seventh-most winners. The single season record for game-winners is five held by both Kyle Hyslop (2005) and current graduate assistant Megan Copeland (2022).

Second Half Push: The Rattlers have been more aggressive in the second half of matches this season, taking 102 shots compared to 65 in the first half. The Gold and Blue have also out-shot the opposition 102-to-73 in the second half. The Rattlers have also scored 11 goals in the first half and 10 in the second.

Back-to-Back: St. Mary's was awarded back-to-back Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week awards with senior Juni Ejere and sophomore Shelby Paniagua each being honored. Ejere scored one goal in each of the two victories for the Rattlers in week five, helping the Rattlers to a 2-0 start for the second time in Lone Star Conference history. Paniagua won the award in week four after scoring a goal in each contest for a pair of draws.

Win #30: The 2-1 victory over Midwestern State on Sept. 30 was the 30th of Head Coach Kevin Driggs' career. In his fourth season with the Rattlers, Driggs has increased his number of wins in every season and with five more victories he will tie for third all-time at StMU. Joe Mendoza is currently third with 36 wins (36-17-1).