This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Lone Star Conference Quarterfinals
Monday., Nov. 10 • No. 6 St. Mary's (9-5-3) at No. 3 Texas Woman's (13-2-3) • 7 p.m.
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Tournament Bound: St. Mary's earned the six-seed in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and will face third-seeded Texas Woman's in Denton on Monday at 7 p.m. The Pioneers are 13-2-3 this season. DBU won the regular season title, while Midwestern State is the #2 seed. Angelo State is the four seed, UT Tyler the five and St. Edward's grabbed the final spot, defeating Lubbock Christian 5-4 in penalty kicks on Friday night.
Scouting Texas Woman's: The Pioneers posted a 9-2-3 record in LSC action and are unbeaten in their last five (4-0-1). Giselle Gutierrez leads the team with 25 points (10 goals, 5 assists), putting 27 of her 50 shots on goal and kicking three game-winners. Amanda Farris and Faith Graves have split time in goal, though Farris hasn't played since Oct. 15. Graves has made 28 saves and allowed four goals in 700 minutes.
History With the Pioneers: The Rattlers hold a 5-3-3 lead in the all-time series with Texas Woman's, though the Pioneers have won the last two, including a 3-0 victory on Sept. 24. Giselle Gutierrez scored two of her 10 goals against StMU. The Rattlers are 2-0-2 at Pioneer Soccer Park since the series began in 2002. The clubs played every season from 2002 through 2006 before not facing each other for 13 years until StMU joined the Lone Star.
No Better Time: Junior Michelle Ramirez picked a fantastic time for the first goal of her career, scoring in the season finale at Lubbock Christian to help the Rattlers earn the sixth-seed in the tournament. Ramirez took a header from freshman Addison Miller in the 18th minute and placed it into the lower left corner of the net for the 1-0 victory.Â
Tournament History: 2025 marks the sixth consecutive season that the Rattlers have advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament. The Rattlers are 4-5 all-time, reaching the finals in 2023. For a complete breakdown of StMU in the LSC Tournament, see page 3 of the pdf notes.
First-Ever: Junior forward Elena Kossler became the first-ever Rattler to win National Player of the Week honors, when she was awarded by D2CIDA on Oct. 28. Kossler collected 11 points the previous week, tying the school record for goals in a game against Eastern New Mexico and scoring the game-tying goal at UT Tyler. Kossler also earned Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 27.
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
Double Trouble: Junior Elena Kossler (13) and senior Shelby Paniagua (10) have combined to score 23 goals this season, which is tied for the fourth-highest scoring duo in Division II. The tandem of Elle Smith (20) and Emily Lattea (9) from Indiana (PA) lead the nation with 29 goals.
Rewriting the Books: Several Rattlers now appear on the single-game, and single-season top-10 lists this season. The active career leaders are on page 2.
Single Game
Most Points: 2nd, Elena Kossler, 9 vs Eastern New Mexico, Oct. 26
Most Points: T9th, Shelby Paniagua, 6 vs Sul Ross State, Oct. 8
Most Goals: T1st, Elena Kossler, 4 vs Eastern New Mexico, Oct. 26
Most Goals: T3rd, Shelby Paniagua, 3 vs Sul Ross State, Oct. 8
Most Assists: T4th, Elena Kossler, 3 vs Texas A&M International, Oct. 28
Most Shots: T2nd, Elena Kossler, 11 vs Eastern New Mexico, Oct. 26
Most Shots: T4th, Elena Kossler, 10 vs Sul Ross State, Oct. 8
Most Shots: T8th, Shelby Paniagua, 9 vs Sul Ross State, Oct. 8
Single Season
Goals: 4th, Elena Kossler, 13
Points, 4th, Elena Kossler, 32
Game-Winning Goals: T1st, Elena Kossler, 5
Freshman Impact: A trio of freshmen: Marily Garza Contreras, Mileena Griego and Aryana Martinez have played in all 17 games this season with Garza Contreras starting in 15, Griego 10 and Martinez four. Fellow freshman Gracie Van Sluis has played in 15 and started in 12, while Alyssah Martinez has played in 14 and has started 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 October 4. He is second in school history with his 55 victories, trailing only Corwyn Ritch (2001-19), who won 159 matches in his 18 years.
Anchoring the Defense: Senior Valerie Hover has played 1474 of the team's 1530 minutes this season. She played all 90 minutes 12 times in the 17 games. She is the only player on the team with 1450 or more minutes.Â
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 Oct. 26 was the ninth time an StMU team scored five or more in the Driggs era.
Helping Hand/Foot: Senior Shelby Paniagua is ninth on the NCAA Division II active players list with 24 assists and 13th in assists per game (0.31). She ranks tied for second in St. Mary's career history with those 24 assists, is fifth with her 29 goals, and is fifth with 82 points. Her points rank her 17th on the DII active list.
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.
