Women's Soccer Will Play for Lone Star Title After 3-0 Win over ASU

DALLAS — For the first time in school history, the St. Mary's University Women's Soccer team will play in the Lone Star Conference Championship finals after an exciting 3-0 win over Angelo State in the semifinals on Friday night.
 
The Rambelles (9-7-4) entered the match on a five-match winning streak and were unbeaten (6-0-2) since the regular season meeting against the Rattlers (11-4-5) on Oct. 4. They had posted six consecutive shutouts and gone 529 minutes without allowing a goal and came out extremely aggressive, taking four shots (three on goal) in the first six minutes.
 
Junior goalkeeper Rebecca Difronzo (Bari, Italy) made a truly stellar save on the Belles third shot on goal and changed the entire momentum of the game. She ended the night with a season-high nine saves for her fifth shutout of the season.
 
"She's a nails goalkeeper," said Head Coach Kevin Driggs. "We're very lucky to have her. She is really hard on herself and she told me, I need to be better, and she stepped up big time for us."
 
Sophomore Shelby Paniagua (Cibolo, Texas), who was honored on the LSC All-Conference First Team on Thursday night, broke the Rattlers onto the scoreboard in the 25th minute. ASU was whistled for a handball in the box and Paniagua took the penalty kick, faking to the right and going into the lower left corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.
 
"Obviously, when you get a penalty that early if you make it, it's a massive benefit but if you miss it, it can really generate momentum for the other team," Driggs said. "It set the tone, because if you look at the first 10 minutes, I thought they were on us, and we responded."
 
Senior Alexis Truitt (Boerne, Texas) scored the next two goals for the first brace of her career. She hit the first in the 35th minute with her left foot, hitting the top right of the net. The play began with senior Juni Ejere (Weatherford, Texas) stealing the ball at midfield and driving down to the corner, where she passed the ball over to Barbara Smith (Las Cruces, N.M.), who lobbed it into the middle of the box for Truitt. 
 
Truitt's second goal came 2:25 into the second half, as Paniagua drove down the field, finding Truitt right outside the box. Truitt cut back to her left and found the bottom left of the net with her right foot for the 3-0 victory.
 
"One of the main reasons I transferred to this school was I wanted to be part of a championship team," said Truitt. "Being able to be a part of it and get there for the first time in Lone Star Conference history, it's something I'm going to remember for the rest of my life, so I'm excited."
 
Sunday, the Rattlers will face host and 10th-ranked DBU in the Championship at 1 p.m. The Patriots defeated Midwestern State 1-0 in the first semifinal on Friday.