Week Five on Tap for Women's Soccer

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Sept. 23 • St. Mary's (5-2-1, 3-1-0) at #16 Texas Woman's (8-0, 4-0) • 6 p.m. • Pioneer Park
Saturday, Sept. 26 • St. Edward's (1-5-1, 1-2-0) at St. Mary's • 7 p.m. • Sigma Beta Chi Field
 

Week Five: St. Mary's Women's Soccer starts the week on the road, facing another tough test in undefeated Texas Woman's (8-0) on Wednesday before returning home to host the annual Battle of the Saints against St. Edward's on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be the second UPC Punch game for St. Mary's students. Those in attendance will receive a punch on their card toward fantastic prizes.

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. The Rattlers have won the competition 5.5-to-2.5 each of the last two years and won 4-3 in 2023-24. The contest enters its 17th year in 2026-27. A draw between the two teams on the pitch would count 0.5 points to each school. 

A Look Back: St. Mary's became the first team to score a goal against UT Dallas this season, and ended the night scoring four times in a 4-2 win over the Comets. Freshman standouts Helen Lazaro and Kamrynn Martinez each scored a brace. The Rattlers then dropped a 3-0 decision at No. 3 DBU on Saturday.

History with Texas Woman's: The Rattlers are holding on to a slim 5-4-3 lead in the all-time series with the Pioneers, though TWU has won the last three in the series, including a 1-0 overtime win in the quarterfinals of last year's Lone Star Conference Tournament. St. Mary's has not scored in the last five games of the series, dating back to a 2-0 win in Denton in 2021.

Scouting the Pioneers: Texas Woman's is ranked No. 16 in the Sept. 15 edition of the United Soccer Coaches/IWSOC poll and is tied atop the Lone Star Conference standings with an 8-0 record. Eleven different players have combined to score 20 goals for TWU, while the defense has allowed only one goal, and none in LSC action. Faith Graves has made 12 saves in eight games.

History with St. Edward's: St. Ed's holds a 40-25-6 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1991, however the Rattlers have won the last three in shutout fashion. The Rattlers are 16-13-2 all-time at home, though only 2-5 at Sigma Beta Chi Field. StMU is 3-4 against SEU with Kevin Driggs as head coach.

Scouting the Hilltoppers: The Hilltoppers got their first win of the season on Saturday with a 2-0 win over West Texas A&M and are 1-5-1 on the year. Madison Creswell and Riley Sisson each have two goals as SEU has only netted five goals in seven games this season. Daria Schlumbohm has started all seven in goal, making 31 saves while allowing 10 goals (.756 save percentage).

Back-to-Back: The game on Wednesday will mark the first time since 2016 that the Rattlers have face nationally-ranked opponents in back-to-back games, and that season they played No. 7 St. Edward's in the regular-season finale and then had to turn around and play them again five days later in the Heartland Conference Tournament. It will be the third time in school history the team will play nationally-ranked foes in consecutive matches, as they also played #12 Colorado School of Mines and #14 Angelo State back-to-back in 2014.

Sweet 16: The 16 goals by the 2026 freshman class ties the St. Mary's record for goals by a first-year class. Helen Lazaro (7), Kamrynn Martinez (7), Emilee Durante (1) and Victoria Morales (1) have combined to score 16 of the team's 18 goals this season, while in 2002, seven different freshmen each scored at least once and Kennie Boxill and Venessa Garza led the freshman class with five goals each.

Nine Is Divine: The Rattlers are unbeaten in their last nine home matches (7-0-2) at Sigma Beta Chi Field. The team last lost at home on Sept. 24, 2025 against Texas Woman's, going 4-0-1 to end the 2025 home season and are 3-0-1 so far in 2026.

Finding the Goal: The freshmen duo of Helen Lazaro and Kamrynn Martinez have each scored seven goals this season, which ties for the second-most scored by a freshman in St. Mary's history, trailing only the 11 that Kaitie Kasperitis netted in 2011. The pair is tied with Kelly Felts (2003) and Alexia Maldonado (2016) for second on the list.

Player of the Week: Freshman Helen Lazaro earned the team's first Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week award of the year after scoring four of the team's five goals, including a hat trick against UT Permian Basin on Sept. 12. She kicked both game-winning goals.

Hat Trick: For the 25th time in school history a StMU player scored three or more goals in a single game when Helen Lazaro scored a hat trick against UT Permian Basin.

Solid 1-2 Punch: St. Mary's is the only team in the nation to have two players ranked in the top 10 in scoring as both Helen Lazaro and Kamrynn Martinez have scored seven times in the first eight games, which is tied for eighth in Division II. The pair are four games off the national lead of 11 goals by Millersville senior Aubrey Strohecker. McKendree sports two players in the top 16 in scoring in Maddie Mauch (7) and Aubrey Andrews (6), while Montevallo has two in the top 30 in Ayla Ertekin (6) and Lainey Farabaugh (5).

A Rarity: Freshman Kamrynn Martinez scored a goal in each of the first five games of the season, and becomes the first Rattlers to score in five straight contests. Kristal Williams netted five goals in four games from Sept. 28 through Oct. 11, 2014 as a sophomore. Martinez leads the Lone Star Conference in shots (5.67), shots on goal (2.50) and is tied for second in total goals (5), and all three rank in the top 20 of Division II.

Lucky Number 13: Junior goalkeeper Molly Lyons recorded a career-high 13 saves against Colorado School of Mines, which is the fifth-most saves in a single game in St. Mary's history. Lyons ranks second on the Lone Star Conference and 38th nationally with 6.00 saves per game and is sixth in the league in save percentage at .818. As a team, the Rattlers are second in the LSC with 6.33 saves a contest.

Prognosticators: St. Mary's was voted sixth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason poll by the league's coaches, SIDs and media. The team received one first-place vote and 443 points, narrowly missing out on the top five. Senior Elena Kossler and sophomore Marily Garza Contreras were named offensive and defensive players to watch in the Lone Star, respectively.

Sister Act: For the first time since the 2012 season, the St. Mary's lineup features a pair of sisters on the team in sophomore Alyssah Martinez and freshman Kamrynn Martinez. Alyssah played in 15 games in 2025 as a true freshman and welcomes her younger sister, Kamrynn to the team for 2026. The last pair of sisters to play for the Gold and Blue were Emilie and Leah Snelson, who played together in 2011 and 2012.

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, 2025. He is second in school history with his 60 victories, trailing only Corwyn Ritch (2001-19), who won 159 matches in his 18 years.

Small Senior Class: There are only two seniors on the roster for 2026 in forward Elena Kossler and midfielder Michelle Ramirez, though both are currently sidelined. With the new NCAA eligibility rules, Ramirez could return for 2027 if wanted. The team also has six juniors, 15 sophomores and 10 freshmen.