Women's Soccer Makes Trek West to Face ENMU

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Saturday, Oct 26 •St. Mary's (5-5-3, 3-3-2) at Eastern New Mexico (2-9-1, 1-7-0) • 2 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MT
 

Lone Contest: The St. Mary's Women's Soccer team plays only one match this week, heading to Portales, N.M., for a match-up with Eastern New Mexico. Both teams are trying to snap a losing skid as the Greyhounds have lost six in a row, while the Rattlers have dropped their last two.

All-Time with Eastern New Mexico: St. Mary's holds a 7-2-2 advantage in the all-time series with Eastern New Mexico. The series dates back to 2004 and the Rattlers are unbeaten in the last seven against the Greyhounds (5-0-2). StMU is 2-2-1 in Portales, winning 2-0 in 2022, the last time the teams played at ENMU.

Adding On: Senior goalkeeper Rebecca Difronzo continues to add on to her career saves record. Last week, she made six saves in the two games, bringing her career total to 270. She broke the all-time record at Midwestern State on Oct. 12, bettering Alyssa Taramona's (2012-15) mark of 261. Difronzo also holds the school records for shutouts (19) and minutes played (6279).

First-Timers: Alysia Cano became the second freshman to play the entire 90 minutes this season, when she was on the pitch for the entire match against Texas Woman's. Fellow freshman defender Alyssa Alba has played all 90 minutes six times this year. A total of five freshman have played for the Rattlers in 2024.

On A Roll: Fifth-year senior Alexis Truitt has scored the last two goals for St. Mary's and now has three this season. Truitt kicked the game-winner against St. Edward's in the 49th minute and added the first goal of the game in the 61st minute at Midwestern State. She now has nine goals in her StMU career and 12 total, with four of her nine with the Rattlers being game-winners.

Rising to the Occasion: Junior Shelby Paniagua continues to shine for the Rattlers. She leads the Lone Star Conference in shots on goal per game (1.77) and penalty kicks (3-for-3), is second in assists per game (0.38), and third in shots per game (4.27). She is also now tied for fourth in St. Mary's history with 19 career assists. Paniagua ties Marcey Morales (2005-08) and with one more will tie Amy Hocking (1997-99) for third all-time.

Pin-Point Accuracy: Sophomore forward Malia Dominguez ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 21st in the nation in shot accuracy at 65.4 percent. The second-year player has accumulated 17 shots on goal in 26 shots this season, scoring a team-leading five goals. 

It's An Honor: Sophomore Malia Dominguez was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1 after helping lift the Rattlers to a sweep in the first week of conference play. Dominguez had six points, scoring three goals in the two victories.

A Variety of Weapons: St. Mary's has scored 20 goals this season and seven different players have at least one. 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 five.

Among the Active Leaders: Rebecca Difronzo currently ranks fifth among active Division II goalkeepers in career minutes played (6279) and is 12th with her 270 saves. She ranks second in the Lone Star Conference among active keepers in saves, trailing only WT's Reagan Heelan (343).