Women's Soccer Looks to Keep Momentum Rolling

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Oct. 8 • Sul Ross State (1-8, 0-5) at St. Mary's (4-4-1, 3-3) • 7:30  p.m. (PINK OUT) 
Saturday, Oct. 11 • St. Mary's at Angelo State (4-2-4, 3-1-2) • 1 p.m.
 

Halfway Point: St. Mary's Women's Soccer looks to keep things rolling with a home game against Sul Ross State on Wednesday for its annual Pink Out game, raising awareness for breast cancer, before traveling to face Angelo State on Saturday at 1 p.m. to start the second half of the Lone Star Conference season.

Trifecta: The three-match winning streak for the Rattlers is the longest of the season and the longest since Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2024 when StMU defeated Eastern New Mexico, Texas A&M International and Oklahoma Christian in a row. A win on Wednesday would be the first four-match winning streak since 2023.

Dynamic Duo: Junior Elena Kossler and senior Shelby Paniagua have each scored in the last two matches for St. Mary's and are tied for the team lead with four goals a piece. Paniagua holds the lead in points, as she also has three assists on the year for 11 points.

Scouting Sul Ross State: The Lobos are 1-8 overall and searching for their first Lone Star win of the season (0-5). Cali Triggs has two of the team's three goals this season, while Kari Villatorro has the other. Emmy Finlinson has started eight of the nine games in goal and has made 79 saves, while allowing 17 goals for an 82.3 save percentage. 

History With the Lobos: The first meeting in the series with Sul Ross State happened on Sept. 25, 2024, a 7-1 victory for the Rattlers at Sigma Beta Chi Field. Malia Dominguez, Shelby Paniagua, and Anabelle Rodriguez each scored two goals for St. Mary's, while Paniagua added an assist for five points on the day.

Scouting Angelo State: The Rambelles are right ahead of the Rattlers in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 4-2-4 overall record and a mark of 3-1-2 in league action. Melyna Martinez has started all 10 games in goal for ASU, and has surrendered only seven goals (0.72 GAA) with 37 saves (.841%). Offensively, Sanai Stewart is the only Rambelle with multiple goals, scoring five of the team's 14 on the year, with an assist for a team-best 11 points. She hails from nearby Cibolo and graduated from Clemens HS. Abby James has scored once and leads the team with five assists, nailing the team's only PK of the year. Defender Wrilyn Shippey and Martinez are also both local products, graduating from Smithson Valley HS in New Braunfels.

History With the Rambelles: Angelo State holds a slight 13-12-1 lead in the all-time series that began in 1996 with the lone draw. ASU won 2-0 in San Angelo a season ago, while the Rattlers won both meetings in 2023. The Rambelles also enjoy an 8-5 lead in games played at ASU, including winning the last five. The last win for St. Mary's in San Angelo was a 4-1 victory back on Sept. 14, 2007.

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 now tied for second in school history with his 50 victories, knotting Lance Noble (1996-99).

Road Warriors?: In Lone Star Conference play this season, the Rattlers have scored six of their eight goals on the road, with the two home goals coming on Saturday against Oklahoma Christian. StMU ranks seventh (of 15) in the LSC stats with eight goals in conference action.

Lethal From 12: Senior Shelby Paniagua added another penalty kick to her total at UT Dallas, making her 10-for-11 in her career, and 7-for-7 in the last two seasons. Paniagua is one of 10 players in Division II this season with multiple PK's, and she is one of three in the Lone Star Conference to make more than one in 2025 (Kenzi Tufts, DBU; Ella Anderson, UTT).

Anchoring the Defense: Senior Valerie Hover has played 788 of the team's 810 minutes this season. She played all 90 minutes six times, including the last three. The only other Rattlers with 750 or more minutes this season are the scoring threats of Elena Kossler (762) and Shelby Paniagua (760).

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, as they defeated East Central 5-1 on Sept. 13. The most goals scored during the Driggs era was 12 against Texas Lutheran on March 14, 2021. Saturday was the seventh time an StMU team scored five or more.

Helping Hand/Foot: Senior Shelby Paniagua is seventh on the NCAA Division II active players list with 23 assists and eighth in  assists per game (0.33). She ranks third in St. Mary's career history with those 23 assists, is eighth with her 23 goals, and is fifth with 69 points.

Faucette In Goal: Senior goalkeeper Haley Faucette may be in her first season with the Rattlers, but she brings a wealth of Division II experience with her. Faucette currently ranks 43rd among Division II keepers with a 1.24 goals against average for her career after playing three seasons at Wingate with 97 saves and a 13-6-5 record for the Bulldogs. She made the 100th save of her career in the season opener at Fort Lewis, saving four shots, and now has 133.

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.