This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Oct. 29 • Texas A&M International (3-8-3, 2-7-2) at St. Mary's (6-5-3, 5-4-2) • 5 p.m. (BOO BASH)
Saturday, Nov. 1 • St. Mary's at UT Permian Basin (3-8-3, 2-8-2) • 11 a.m.
Final Three: St. Mary's plays two of its final three games of the regular season this week, beginning with Texas A&M International on Wednesday for Boo Bash at 5 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to the game for prizes. Saturday, the Rattlers begin November at UT Permian Basin at 11 a.m.
Scouting Texas A&M International: The Dustdevils are 3-8-3 and are coming off a 4-0 win at Sul Ross State. Rosa Caird leads the team with five points (1 goal, 3 assists), while Julissa Gonzalez has two goals. TAMIU has split time between two keepers, who have combined to make 48 saves (3.43/game) with a 1.23 GAA and .738 save percentage.Â
History With the Dustdevils: St. Mary's has won 31 of the 40 meetings between the two schools, posting a 31-7-2 record in the series that started in 2002. The Rattlers are 4-2-1 since the teams joined the Lone Star Conference, and are 15-4-1 all-time at home.
Scouting UT Permian Basin: The Falcons are also 3-8-3 on the year, but are 1-1-2 in their last four matches. Cassandra Ramirez leads the way with nine points (3 goals, 3 assists) and is one of six to score a goal for UTPB this year. Valeria Delgado has started all 14 games in goal with a 1.04 GAA, and she's made 78 of the team's 83 saves on the year (.856).
History with the Falcons: The Rattlers are 23-4 all-time against UTPB and are 12-2 in Odessa. St. Mary's has won the last six games in the series, last losing in 2019.
What An Honor: Junior forward Elena Kossler was named the Lone Star Conference Player of the Week after collecting 11 points for the week and tying the school record for goals in a game with four against Eastern New Mexico. It is the first weekly honor for any Rattler this season.
Storybook Senior Day: Senior forward Sydney Varela medically retired in September after suffering her third major injury in the Gold & Blue, but dressed and started on Sunday for Senior Day. The plan was only to play her until the ball went out of bounds for the first time, but instead she scored a goal 36 seconds in. Elena Kossler had broken free in the box and saw Varela, passed her the ball and gave the Rattlers an early 1-0 lead less than a minute in.Â
In the Record Books: Against Eastern New Mexico on Sunday, Elena Kossler scored four goals, tying the school record. She also totaled nine points with an assist, the second-highest point total in a single match in school history. Her 11 shots also ties for the second-most. Kossler is now tied for fourth with 12 goals on the season and she's tied for third with four game-winning goals.
Double Trouble: Junior Elena Kossler (12) and senior Shelby Paniagua (8) have combined to score 20 goals this season, and are tied for the highest-scoring duo in the Lone Star Conference, as Gabby Thompson (12) and Chelsea Vilca (8) from UT Dallas have also combined for 20 scores. The 20 goals by two players is also tied for the fifth-most in Division II.
Freshman Impact: A trio of freshmen: Marily Garza Contreras, Mileena Griego and Aryana Martinez have played in all 14 games this season with Garza Contreras starting in 12, Griego 10 and Martinez four. Fellow freshman Gracie Van Sluis has played in 13 and started in 12 in helping anchor the Rattlers defense, while Alyssah Martinez has played in 12 of the 14, and has started the last eight.
Making History: Head Coach Kevin Driggs became the third coach in StMU Women's Soccer history to win 50 games in their career with win No. 50 against Oklahoma Christian on Saturday. He is second in school history with his 52 victories, passing Lance Noble (50, 1996-99).
Dynamic Duo: Junior Elena Kossler leads the Lone Star Conference in shots per game (4.57), shots on goal per game (2.29), game-wining goals (4), points per game (1.86), and goals per game (0.86). Senior Shelby Paniagua also ranks third in the conference in goals (0.57), points (1.43), shots (3.71) and shots on goal (1.64).Â
Anchoring the Defense: Senior Valerie Hover has played 1204 of the team's 1260 minutes this season. She played all 90 minutes nine times. The only other Rattlers with 1150 or more minutes this season are Elena Kossler (1159) and Shelby Paniagua (1160).
Offensive Explosion: At least once in all six seasons with Kevin Driggs as the head coach, the Rattlers have tallied at least one game during the year with five or more goals, and they've done so three times this season, defeating East Central 5-1 (Sept. 13), Sul Ross State 6-0 (Oct. 8) and Eastern New Mexico 5-1 (Oct. 26). The most goals scored during the Driggs era was 12 against Texas Lutheran on March 14, 2021. The win over the Greyhounds on Sunday was the ninth time an StMU team scored five or more in the Driggs era.
Helping Hand/Foot: Senior Shelby Paniagua is eighth on the NCAA Division II active players list with 24 assists and 10th in assists per game (0.32). She ranks tied for second in St. Mary's career history with those 24 assists, is fifth with her 27 goals, and is fifth with 78 points. Her points rank her 19th on the DII active list.
Picked Fifth: The Rattlers were voted fifth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. Should the prediction hold, the Rattlers will compete in their sixth-straight LSC Tournament. A season ago, StMU placed fifth with a 9-7-3 overall record.
What's Coming Back: The Rattlers return 19 of the 30 goals scored last season, along with 13 of the 18 assists, including a team-leading eight goals and six assists by senior Shelby Paniagua. The team also returns three defenders from last season's squad that allowed 1.42 goals per game, and senior Abigail Wilson, who was part of the 2023 team that surrendered only 1.27 goals a contest.
New Faces: The Rattlers have 20 newcomers to the 2025 team, including 15 freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and one senior transfer. The newcomers outnumber the returners 20-to-14 on the 34-player roster for sixth-year head coach Kevin Driggs.
