Women's Soccer Faces Week Two of LSC Slate

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Sept. 24 • #25 Texas Woman's (6-0, 2-0) at St. Mary's (1-3-1, 0-2) • 5 p.m. 
Saturday, Sept. 27 • St. Mary's at St. Edward's (2-4, 1-1) • 7 p.m.

 

Conference Week Two: St. Mary's hosts its second-straight nationally-ranked and undefeated team on Wednesday when #25 Texas Woman's comes to Sigma Beta Chi. The Rattlers then compete in the annual Battle of the Saints on Saturday night in Austin.

Battle of the Saints: The winner of the Battle of the Saints earns one point toward a cumulative total and bragging rights between the two schools. Last year, the Rattlers won 5.5-to-2.5, and won 4-3 in 2023-24. St. Mary's holds a three-point edge in the contest that enters its 16th year in 2025-26. A draw between the two teams on the pitch would count 0.5 points to each school.

Last Time Out: The Rattlers dropped the opening two games of the Lone Star Conference season, falling 3-2 at newcomer UT Dallas, before losing 3-0 to #5 DBU on Saturday. Junior Malia Dominguez and senior Shelby Paniagua each scored their second goals of the season at UTD.

Scouting TWU: The Pioneers are the second-straight undefeated team to come to Sigma Beta Chi Field, as they are 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Lone Star play. Ailyn Oliveros leads the way with four goals, while Giselle Gutierrez has seven points off two goals and three assists. Amanda Farris has saved six attempts and allowed two goals in six starts.

History With the Pioneers: St. Mary's holds a 5-2-3 edge in the all-time series with Texas Woman's, though TWU won last season 1-0 in San Antonio. Six of the 10 meetings have been home games for the Rattlers, with a 3-2-1 record.

Scouting SEU: The Hilltoppers are 2-4 overall and 1-1 in Lone Star Conference play after losing to Oklahoma Christian at home and beating West Texas A&M, 3-2 in Canyon last week. Annie Rocha paces the team with 11 points (five goals, one assist) and is the only player with multiple goals. Daria Schlumbohm has started in goal all six games, making 17 saves and allowing 13 goals.

History With the 'Toppers: St. Edward's leads 40-24-6 in the all-time series, though the Rattlers have won the last two meetings, snapping an eight-game winning streak for the Hilltoppers. The series began in 1991, and StMU is 6-26-4 in games played in Austin.

Lethal From 12: Senior Shelby Paniagua added another penalty kick to her total on Wednesday 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 and Kenzi Tufts from DBU are the only two in the Lone Star Conference to make more than one in 2025.

Anchoring the Defense: Senior Valerie Hover has played 436 of the team's 450 minutes this season. She played all 90 minutes three times, including at UT Dallas on Wednesday. The only other Rattlers with 400 or more minutes this season are forward Elena Kossler (424) and midfielders Shelby Paniagua (423) and Ana Parra (408).

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 Saturday afternoon. 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.

Taking The Shot: Senior Shelby Paniagua and junior Elena Kossler rank second and third in the Lone Star Conference in shots per game. Paniagua is averaging 4.60 per game, which ranks 15th in the nation, while Kossler is averaging 4.00 for 30th in Division II. Cassandra Ramirez from UTPB currently leads the league with 4.75 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.

Helping Hand/Foot: Senior Shelby Paniagua is seventh on the NCAA Division II active players list with 21 assists and assists per game (0.32). She moves past Amy Hocking (1997-99) into third in St. Mary's career history with those 201 assists, and past Leia Kirch (2009-12) into a tied for eighth with her 21 goals.

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 38th among Division II keepers with a 1.23 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 114.

Closing In: Kevin Driggs is moving closer to his 50th win as a head coach, as he won his 47th against East Central. 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.

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.