Women's Soccer Looks to Sustain Momentum

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Oct. 2 • St. Mary's (4-2-1) at UT Tyler (5-1-1) • 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct 5 • Lubbock Christian (3-3-1) at St. Mary's • 1 p.m.
 

Turning the Calendar: The St. Mary's Women's Soccer team begins its second month of play, traveling to UT Tyler for a Wednesday match before hosting Lubbock Christian on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Rattlers are one of two teams in the Lone Star Conference with six points after the first week, alongside Midwestern State.

All-Time with UT Tyler: The Rattlers are 2-1-0 against UT Tyler and 1-1 in Tyler. StMU has won the last two meetings between the clubs in a series that began in 2019 when the two teams joined the Lone Star Conference. The teams have not faced any common opponents in 2024.

All-Time with Lubbock Christian: The Lady Chaps hold a slight 8-6-3 advantage in the all-time series with St. Mary's, however the Rattlers are unbeaten in the last four (3-0-1). The teams began competing in 2010 and are knotted 2-2-2 in San Antonio. The clubs have not had any commonality in opponents this year.

Starting with a Sweep: The Rattlers swept the first week of Lone Star Conference action, defeating newcomer Sul Ross State 7-1 before posting a 2-0 win at West Texas A&M for the team's first-ever win in Canyon. Both Malia Dominguez and Shelby Paniagua scored six points, with Dominguez punching in three goals and Paniagua adding two goals and two assists.

Hayes Helps x Two: In the first game of her collegiate career, freshman midfielder Freya Hayes made quite an impression, collecting two assists in the win over Sul Ross State in 33 minutes of play. Hayes found Malia Dominguez streaking to the goal in the 52nd minute and then found fellow freshman Anabelle Rodriguez in the 88th minute for her second. 

Triple Brace: For the first time since Sept. 2, 2022 the Rattlers had three different players score a brace in the same game as Shelby Paniagua, Malia Dominguez and Anabelle Rodriguez also scored twice in the 7-1 win over Sul Ross State on Wednesday. In 2022, Juni Ejere (3), Megan Copeland (2) and Barbara Smith (2) each had multiple goals in the 7-1 win over Felician. The goals for Rodriguez against the Lobos are the first of the freshman's career.

Leading the Nation: Shelby Paniagua is one of three players in the nation who is 3-for-3 in penalty kicks this season. Aino Martikainen from Franklin Pierce and Ashleigh Martin from Central Missouri are the other two. Paniagua also ranks 29th in assists per game (0.57) and 28th in points per game (1.71).

A Variety of Weapons: St. Mary's has scored 18 goals this season and seven different players have at least one. Both Malia Dominguez leads the team with five, while Natalie Gonzalez and Shelby Paniagua each have four goals. Seven players have at least one assist on the year, led by Paniagua with four.

Record Watch: Rebecca Difronzo currently sits at 247 career saves, needing 14 more to tie the St. Mary's career record of 261 held by Alyssa Taramona (2012-15). Difronzo is averaging 3.14 saves per game this season, which ranks 11th in the Lone Star Conference. Difronzo already holds the StMU records for shutouts (17) and minutes played (5,792).

Top Five: Junior midfielder Shelby Paniagua moved into a tie for fifth all-time at St. Mary's in assists with Kyle Hyslop (2003-06) and Kelly Shaughnessy (1997-99). All three have 18 in their career. Paniagua already has four goals and four assists through the first seven contests in 2024.