This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Saturday, Sept. 13 • East Central (0-3-0) at #RV St. Mary's (0-1-1) • 1 p.m.
Home Sweet Home: St. Mary's opens the home portion of the 2025 schedule, hosting East Central on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Rattlers are 7-4-1 all-time against the Tigers and won the last meeting in 2023 by a 5-0 score.
Scouting ECU: The Tigers are 0-3 on the year and the Rattlers are their fourth-straight Lone Star Conference opponent to open the season. Lauren Mora scored their lone goal on Wednesday night at Oklahoma Christian in a 3-1 setback, and she leads the team with three shots on goal. Keeper Madison Mayhall has made 20 saves in three games, allowing eight goals (.714). In the first game of the 2023 season, now senior Shelby Paniagua scored two goals and an assist, while fellow seniors Sydney Varela and Valerie Hover each scored once in a 5-0 victory.
Road Trip: The Rattlers moved to 19-13-3 all-time in season openers with a scoreless draw against Fort Lewis before falling 4-0 to then-#22 Colorado Mesa. St. Mary's is now 1-3-1 in season openers against RMAC teams. Senior GK Haley Faucette made five saves, while redshirt freshman Quetza Garza made one.
Taking The Shot: Senior Shelby Paniagua and junior Elena Kossler rank second and fourth in the Lone Star Conference in shots per game. Paniagua is averaging five, while Kossler is averaging four. Cassandra Ramirez from UTPB currently leads the league with 7.5 shots per contest.
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.
Helping Hand/Foot: Senior Shelby Paniagua is tied for sixth on the NCAA Division II active players list with 20 assists and seventh in assists per game (0.32). She is tied for third in St. Mary's career history with those 20 assists (Amy Hocking, 1997-99), and is also tied for 10th with her 19 goals (Leia Kirch, 2009-12).
Closing In: Kevin Driggs is moving closer to his 50th win as a head coach, as he won his 46th in the 2024 regular season finale at UT Permian Basin. When he reaches the milestone, he will become only the third women's soccer coach at St. Mary's to do so and will tie Lance Noble (1996-99) for second on the all-time wins list.
