LUBBOCK, Texas - For the first time since 2019, the road to the Lone Star Conference Women's Soccer Championship makes a stop in Lubbock, as the Lady Chaps host St. Mary's in a first round tournament matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

#5-seed St. Mary's (11-3-4, 5-3-4 LSC) at #4-seed Lubbock Christian (8-2-8, 5-2-5 LSC) 
Lone Star Conference Tournament - First Round
Tuesday, Nov. 1 - 4 PM
Lubbock, Texas - LCU Soccer & Track Facility

LADY CHAP HEADERS
• LCU is coming off a 0-0 draw against St. Mary's. Abby Kone earned her eighth shutout of the season, the second most for any Lady Chap goalkeeper in a single season.

• Celia Duarte is just the seventh Lady Chap in school history to record 40 points in a career, as Duarte sits seventh overall with 41 points in her career. She now sits alone for seventh most goals scored all time with 15, breaking a tie with teammate Makenna Pate. Duarte ranks ninth in program history with 119 career shot attempts and is tied for ninth in program history with 51 shots on goal.

- Lexi De La Cruz is the first Lady Chap to score double digit goals in a season since Haley Knesek scored 12 goals and Allison Scott scored 11 in the 2019 season. De La Cruz has scored 10 goals so far this season.

- Kenley Blevins and Abby Kone have both played all 90 minutes in every single match this season. Blevins has not left the pitch since the 18th minute against St. Mary's on Nov. 6, 2021.

- This is the first time LCU is hosting an LSC Tournament match since 2019, when the Lady Chaps advanced 5-4 on penalty kicks against Angelo State. LCU is 0-2-1 all-time in the Lone Star Conference Tournament, and is 0-5-1 all-time in the postseason. 

DISHING IT OUT
The Lady Chaps have been sharing the ball at will this season, with twelve players recording at least one assist. Maddie Hoel leads the team with five assists this season. LCU is giving the ball out at will, averaging 1.67 assists per match, 2nd in the LSC. The Lady Chaps' 30 assists are also second in the conference

RA RA RASMUSSEN
Graycen Rasmussen has been one of the standout freshmen for the Lady Chaps this season, scoring six goals and tallying three assists so far ths year. Rasmussen picked up five points in two matches earlier this season, tallying an assist and a goal against Oklahoma Christian. Her penalty kick goal against Texas A&M International was enough for the Lady Chaps to knock off the Dust Devils 1-0. Rasmussen ranks third in the LSC in shots with 59. Her 3.69 shots per game rank sixth most in a season for any Lady Chap.

KONE YOU DIG IT
After recording two shutouts in her first two matches, Abby Kone was named Goalkeeper of the Week by the Lone Star Conference on Monday, Aug. 29. It was the first time a Lady Chap has been named Lone Star Conference Goalkeeper of the Week since Oct. 4, 2021, when Hannah Wise earned the honor. It is also the first time an LCU has earned a weekly conference honor after their first week of the season since Sarah Palmer won the Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Week award as a freshman goalkeeper for week one of the 2015 season. Kone became the first LCU keeper to record 10 saves in a match since 2018, with 13 saves against Colorado Mesa, the second most in a match in program history.  Kone now sits second all time in shutouts already in her career with eight. Her 63 saves already rank as the sixth most in program history and the third most in one season for any Lady Chap. Kone's .818 save percentage is tied for fourth in the conference and is the second highest in a season in program history.

WELCOME BACK LEXI
Lexi De La Cruz is a sophomore transfer from Howard Payne University. De La Cruz was the American Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year in 2021, leading the conference in points (34), assists (8) and goals (8). The Lubbock native was also named Third-Team All-Region by the United Soccer Coaches Association. De La Cruz did not waste long in her return to Lubbock, scoring a pair of goals and recording an assist in LCU's 3-0 shutout of Western Colorado in their first match of the season.  Twice this season De La Cruz has tallied five points in a match, scoring a hat trick against New Mexico Highlands on Sept. 3, and scoring two goals and picking up an assist on Oct. 22 against St. Edward's. She currently ranks third in the Lone Star Conference in points (23) second in goals (10), third in shots on goal (28) and seventh in total shots (45).

SHUT IT DOWN
Since the program's inception in 2010, the Lady Chaps have recorded at least four shutouts in every single season. LCU picked up their eighth shutout this season in a 0-0 draw against St. Mary's, moving to 4-0-4 in shutouts this year. The Lady Chaps hold a 75-0-8 record in shutouts all-time

PRESEASON PICKINGS
The Lubbock Christian University women's soccer team was picked to finish eighth in the 2022 Lone Star Conference preseason poll. Celia Duarte, Madison Mayben and Megan Mirabal were named players to watch by the conference for the 2022 season.
- Duarte played in 11 matches last season for the Lady Chaps, scoring a pair of goals and tallying one assist. Her goal against Texas A&M International on Sept. 25 was the game winner over the Dust
Devils and gave LCU their first conference win of the season.
 - Mayben played in and started 15 matches for the Lady Chaps last season. Mayben was a key part of the Lubbock Christian defense that recorded six shutouts, including four in their first eight matches on the way to a 6-0-2 start.
 - Mirabal started five games in net for LCU last season, finishing the year with a 3-1-1 record. Mirabal earned the win for the Lady Chaps in her first three matches, allowing two goals and recording 11 total saves. She earned her lone shutout of the season against Adams State on Sept. 9, tallying six saves on the way to the 3-0 victory.

THIS IS HOME
In their second year at the new LCU soccer and track & field complex, the Lady Chaps went 4-4-1 at home, opening the season with a 4-1 thrashing of New Mexico Highlands. LCU is now 60-27-18 in
home games all-time, and 10-5-7 all-time at the LCU soccer and track & field complex. Lubbock Christian has never had a losing record at home under head coach Alex Denning. The home schedule for 2022 features nine home games in total. LCU has just three wins at home this season, but has not lost a home match this year, with six draws

IT'S HOW YOU FINISH
Like last season, the Lady Chaps were undefeated after their first eight matches at 4-0-4. Also like last season, the Lady Chaps eighth match was a positive result against a ranked DBU, beating the
no. 12 Patriots 1-0 in 2021, and tying the no. 1 Pats 1-1 this season. Last season, LCU was 6-0-2 after eight matches, but finished the season just 2-7 and missed the Lone Star Conference Tournament. The 6-0-5 start was the best for the Lady Chaps since starting the 2012 season 12-0. LCU fizzled out at the end of that season, going 0-5-2 in their final seven matches. After starting 6-0-5 this season, the Lady Chaps are 2-2-3 in their last seven matches and have been shutout four times

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
-St. Mary's enters the match 11-3-4 overall and 5-3-4 in the LSC. The Rattlers finished as the fifth seed in the Lone Star Conference after earning a 0-0 draw against LCU on Saturday. 
- The Rattlers started the season 6-0, and are 5-3-4 in their last 12 matches, all in conference play.
- Juni Ejere leads the Rattlers and is tied for third in the conference in points (23) and second in goals (10) 
- Rebecca Difronzo has allowed 10 goals this season and has a save percentage of .818, both fourth in the LSC. Difronzo's 8.2 shutouts this season are third in the conference.
 - Kevin Driggs is in his third season as head coach of the St. Mary's women's soccer team. In his first year, the Rattlers advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament for the first time and to the postseason for the first time 2016. The team was 5-5 during the regular season and saw both Megan Copeland and Cameron Koerner named to the Lone Star All-Conference team and Copeland to the All-Tournament team. In 2021, the team was 9-7-2 and qualified for the Lone Star Conference Tournament for the second-straight season. 

THE SERIES WITH THE RATTLERS
LCU leads the all-time series 8-2-3, playing to a 0-0 draw just three days ago. LCU has outscored the Rattlers 21-9 all time and is 6-1-1 at home against St. Mary's. The two programs have never met in the postseason. The Rattlers are 1-2 all-time in the LSC Tournament.

UP NEXT
The winner of this match will travel to Dallas, Texas for the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, facing #1-seed/no. 1 Dallas Baptist on Friday, Nov. 4. Kickoff is set for 5 PM. More information on tickets and streaming will be available on the Lone Star Conference website following the conclusion of all three first round matches.