Women's Soccer Unbeaten in Six Straight

LUBBOCK, Texas – For only the second time since joining the Lone Star Conference, the St. Mary's University Women's Soccer team has started league play with a 2-0 mark.
 
The Rattlers (3-1-4, 2-0-0) started the 2021 campaign with a 2-0 record en route to a 7-4-2 league mark and won 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in Lubbock to match that record.
 
"It was great to get a win on the road," said senior Natalie Gonzalez. "We've been working very hard as a group to fix certain areas on our attack. I really enjoy playing with the team, as we are able to work together through adversity and grow and continuously come out successful."
 
It was the usual suspects in the scoring column for the Gold and Blue as senior Juni Ejere (Weatherford, Texas) scored in the 11th minute for her third of the season and the 23rd of her Rattlers career. Senior Jackie Miller (El Paso, Texas) took a free kick that the Lady Chaps (4-2-2) attempted to clear out of the box, but Ejere took the ball out of the air and kicked over her own head and that of the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner of the net from the edge of the box for the 1-0 advantage.
 
It took sophomore Shelby Paniagua (Cibolo, Texas) only a little over two minutes into the second half to add her team-leading fourth goal of the year and kick her second game-winner of the year. Paniagua took the corner kick and was able to chase down the ball after the scuffle in the box for possession, turn and boot the ball out of the reach of the goalkeeper from approximately 25 yards out.
 
The win is the third-straight for the Rattlers in Lubbock, and StMU is 3-0-1 in the last four meetings with the Lady Chaps.
 
St. Mary's remains on the road, playing in the annual Battle of the Saints on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Austin.