Monday, November 6 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field • Lone Star Conference Quarterfinals
St. Edward's (6-6-3, 5-5-2) at St. Mary's (9-4-5, 8-3-1) • 7 p.m.
Earning the Two-Seed: The St. Mary's Women's Soccer team finished the regular season ranked number two in the Lone Star Conference and will host seventh-seeded St. Edward's in a bonus Battle of the Saints on Monday at 7 p.m.
Tourney Time: This is the fourth-straight season the Rattlers have qualified for the Lone Star Conference Championship, missing the tournament only the team's first year in the league in 2019. The two-seed is the highest the Rattlers have been seeded.
Series History: The Rattlers are 22-40-6 in the all-time series with rival, St. Edward's and have lost eight straight in the series. This will be the first meeting in a conference tournament since 2016, when the teams met in the Heartland Conference Tournament. StMU is 3-5 in conference tournament meetings with the Hilltoppers since the teams began playing in 1991.
Regional Rankings: In the second set of NCAA Regional rankings that were released on Oct. 30, St. Mary's ranks sixth in the South Central Region with the top eight teams advancing to the NCAA Championship.
Close to the Top: St. Mary's ranks second in the league statistics in assists (1.29), corner kicks (5.82), and points per game (5.06), trailing only DBU. The Rattlers also rank in the top 80 in the nation in all three categories. Individually, Shelby Paniagua is second in the conference in game-winning goals (3) and Rebecca Difronzo is second in goalie minutes played (1521:38).
Tough Defense: Junior Rebecca Difronzo recorded a season-high seven saves at Oklahoma Christian, and followed that up with six saves against #25 DBU, making her the fourth player in school history to record 200 saves in a career. Difronzo now has 207 saves, needing 16 more to move into a tie for third in school history. (223, Jennifer O'Connor, 2001-04).
Pointillism: Senior Juni Ejere has collected 57 points in her three seasons with the Rattlers, good for seventh place on the career charts. Her 25 career goals also rank fifth in St. Mary's history.
Pick Your Poison: Defenders can't key on one player in the St. Mary's lineup this season to shut down as four Rattlers have collected 10 or more points. It is the first time since 2016 StMU has had four players post double digits as that season Alexia Maldonado (15), Rachel Gurinsky (14), Heather Dawson (12) and Roxy Cruz Santory (10) each broke the milestone, while this year Shelby Paniagua (21), Sydney Varela (15), Juni Ejere (12) and Alexis Truitt (11) have each accomplished the feat.
By The Numbers: The Rattlers are +14 in goals this season and +53 in shots in 2023. The Rattlers have 48 more shots in the second half than in the first and 45 more shots than their opponents after the break. StMU has taken 41 more corner kicks than the opposition, including 32 more in the second stanza.
