Women's Soccer Turns Attention to LSC Play

This Week in Rattlers Soccer
Wednesday, Sept. 9 • St. Mary's (2-1-1) at Texas A&M International (0-3-0) • 7 p.m. • Dustdevil Field
Saturday, Sept. 12 • UT Permian Basin (3-0-0) at St. Mary's • 7:30 p.m. • Sigma Beta Chi Field

Starting Conference: St. Mary's Women's Soccer will begin conference play at Texas A&M International on Wednesday before returning home to host UT Permian Basin on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

A Look Back: St. Mary's split the final week of non-conference play, winning 4-2 at New Mexico Highlands before suffering their first setback of the season in a 3-1 loss at Colorado School of Mines on Saturday. Freshman Kamrynn Martinez led the team with five points on the trip, scoring a goal in each contest and adding an assist against the Cowgirls.

LSC Openers: The Rattlers are 4-3 in the first Lone Star Conference game of the season, and this will be the first time they've played the Dustdevils in the league opener. A season ago, StMU dropped a 3-2 decision at UT Dallas. Under the direction of Head Coach Kevin Driggs, the Rattlers are 4-2 in the first conference game of the year.

History with Texas A&M International: The Rattlers own a commanding 31-7-2 lead in the all-time series with the Dustdevils. StMU is 16-3-1 in games played in Laredo and unbeaten in the last three games (2-0-1) played at Dustdevil Soccer Field. The Rattlers have won each of the last two games by identical 3-0 scores, and are 5-2-1 in the eight contests where Kevin Driggs has roamed the sidelines.

Scouting the Dustdevils: TAMIU is 0-3 to start the 2026 season, with two goals in the three contests. Ana Lucia Arroyo Azofeifa and Milly Garcia have each scored once, while Maria Melendez has made 10 saves and allowed six goals. The Dustdevils lost 2-1 to Lynn, while the Rattlers defeated the Fighting Knights 3-1 in the only common opponent of the year.

History with UT Permian Basin: St. Mary's has won the last seven meetings with UT Permian Basin, including back-to-back shutouts in 2024 and 2025 in Odessa. The Rattlers hold a 24-4 lead in the series that began in 2001, and they are a perfect 4-0 at home at Sigma Beta Chi Field. 

Scouting the Falcons: UT Permian Basin looks to be much improved as they are 3-0 on the season and have outscored opponents 10-1. Cassandra Ramirez leads the team with four goals - including a hat trick against Southwest (N.M.), while they've used three keepers in goal with Valeria Delgado making six saves. The Falcons beat New Mexico Highlands, 2-0 on Sept. 5, while the Rattlers won 4-2 two days earlier. 

Youth Movement: St. Mary's has scored nine goals in the first four games of the season and seven of the nine are by true freshmen, led by Kamrynn Martinez with four. Emilee Durante, Helen Lazaro and Victoria Morales each have one, while junior Anabelle Rodriguez has the other two. Freshmen have accounted for 1,825 of the 3,960 minutes played (46.1 percent) this season, while newcomers to the team are responsible for 2,629 minutes (66.4 percent).

A Rarity: Freshman Kamrynn Martinez has scored a goal in each of the first four games of the season, and becomes the first Rattlers since 2014 to score in four straight contests. Kristal Williams netted five goals in four games from Sept. 28 through Oct. 11, 2014 as a sophomore. Martinez is believed to be the first freshman in StMU history to score in her first four games as a collegian. Martinez leads the Lone Star Conference in shots (6.25), shots on goal (3.25) and is tied for total goals (4), and all three rank in the top 10 of Division II.

Lyons Pride: Junior goalkeeper Molly Lyons currently ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 12th in the nation averaging 8.00 saves per game. Lyons posted a career-best 13 saves in the 3-1 loss at Colorado School of Mines and has made at least five stops in all four games to start the season. The Rattlers rank second in the LSC with 8.25 saves per game, trailing only Sul Ross State (9.67) and rank 14th nationally.

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.

The Makeup: Head Coach Kevin Driggs added not only 14 new players to the roster for 2026, but also a new assistant coach in Diego Tapia-Fraites. The Rattlers have 12 athletes returning from last season's club, including 2025 LSC Newcomer and Forward of the Year in Elena Kossler. Kossler was responsible for 32 of the team's 91 points a season ago, while the Rattlers also return points from Marily Garza Contreras (7), Michelle Ramirez (3), Anabelle Rodriguez (3), and Natalya Hendrus (1). Ramirez was named the final LSC Player of the Week in 2025 after scoring the game-winning goal in the regular season finale at Lubbock Christian.

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.

First-Ever: 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, 2025. 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.

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 57 victories, trailing only Corwyn Ritch (2001-19), who won 159 matches in his 18 years.

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 did so three times in 2025, 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.

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