Women's Soccer Kicks Off 2023 Season With Home Matches

Thursday, August 31 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
East Central (0-0) at St. Mary's (0-0) • 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 2 • San Antonio • Sigma Beta Chi Field
Mississippi College (0-0) at St. Mary's • 12 p.m.

Season Opener: St. Mary's kicks off the 2023 regular season hosting East Central on Thursday and Mississippi College on Saturday. The Rattlers are 6-4-1 all-time against East Central and this will be the first meeting against Mississippi College. The Lady Choctaws are picked to repeat as Gulf South Champions.

Series History: The Rattlers are 3-1-1 at home against ECU and the teams last met in 2021, a 1-0 win for the Tigers. This will be the first meeting against Mississippi College and the Rattlers are 2-0-0 all-time against teams from the state of Mississippi with wins over Belhaven in 1996 and Delta State in 2017. 

Exhibition Recap: StMU posted a perfect 3-0 record in exhibitions with a pair of wins at Division I opponents. The Rattlers opened the year with a 2-1 win at Abilene Christian and wrapped up the exhibition contests with a 3-2 win at Texas Southern. Sandwiched between was an 8-0 rout over Concordia at Sigma Beta Chi Field. 

Preseason Nod: In the extremely competitive 13-team race, the St. Mary's Women's Soccer team has been selected to finish fifth by the Lone Star Conference. The Rattlers received 339 points, while DBU was chosen to repeat as league champs, garnering 504 points and 37 of the 39 first-place votes. Angelo State (457), West Texas A&M (412) and Lubbock Christian (351) round out the top five.

Feet Friendly: Sigma Beta Chi Field underwent major renovations over the summer with new grass installed. The project leveled the playing surface and laid down a new grass surface for the men's and women's soccer teams.

Players to Watch: Seniors Juni Ejere and Jackie Miller and junior Rebecca Difronzo were all named as Preseason Players to Watch in the Lone Star Conference. Ejere is a two-time First-Team All-Lone Star Conference selection at forward, while Miller was named to the Lone Star All-Tournament team a year ago and Difronzo was a Third-Team All-Conference pick in 2022.

In The Record Books: Both senior Juni Ejere and Rebecca Difronzo enter the 2023 season with their names already in the St. Mary's career record book. Ejere ranks ninth in school history with 20 goals and tied for 10th with 45 points, while Difronzo is third in goals against average (0.96), fourth in saves with 152 and fourth with 11 shutouts.

Super Seniors: The Rattlers have five players who elected to use the fifth season granted by the NCAA during the pandemic. Juni Ejere, Olivia Galvan, Jackie Miller, Tori Permillion, and Love' Tovar have all returned for a fifth season, though only Permillion has spent all five with the Rattlers.