DURANGO, Colo. - The Lady Chaps return to the pitch for the 2022 season, heading to Durango, Colo. for a neutral site clash at Fort Lewis College against Western Colorado.

Lubbock Christian (0-0) vs Western Colorado (0-0)
Thursday, Aug. 25 – 6 p.m.
Dirks Field – Durango, Colo.

LADY CHAP HEADERS
• The Lady Chaps will play their first three games of the season on the road, traveling to Colorado and New Mexico. LCU went 4-3-1 away from home last season.
• Lubbock Christian finished the 2021 fall season 8-7-2, starting the year 6-0-2 before finishing just 2-5 in the final half of the season.
• Third-team All-Conference selection Madison Mayben returns to LCU for her junior season. The San Angelo, Texas native played 1262 minutes last year for the Chaps at defender, the fourth-most on the team
• Leading goal scorer Makenna Pate also returns to LCU. The Keller, Texas native scored four goals last season and led the team in shots (31) and shots on goal (13).
• Coronado High School graduate Lexi De La Cruz returns to Hub City after her freshman year at Howard Payne University. De La Cruz was named ASC Freshman of the Year for the 2021 Fall season.
• The Lady Chaps are 5-0-1 in their last six nonconference matches, their last loss coming to Angelo State on Feb. 27, 2021 in a match ruled a nonconference match. LCU's last loss to a team outside of the Lone Star Conference was to CSU-Pueblo on Sept. 7, 2019.

 
YOU'RE HOT AND YOU'RE COLD
The Lady Chaps 2021 fall season started off hot, with LCU opening the year with a 6-0-2 record, recording four shutouts and outscoring opponents 16-4. The Lady Chaps also upset no. 12 Dallas Baptist 1-0 on Oct. 2, 2021. The second half of the season was not as exciting for LCU, going just 2-7 to end the season, being outscored 13-3 and were shutout six times during that stretch.
 
ALL THE STARS ARE HERE
Of the 19 goals scored in the Fall 2021 season, 12 of those goals were scored by players who return to Hub City for the 2022 season. Pate leads the way with four goals, while Celia Duarte and Arely Jimenez both tallied a pair of goals last season. Kenley Blevins, Maddie Hoel, Julie Shahi, and Casie Watson all found the back of the net once last season for the Lady Chaps.
 
WELCOME BACK LEXI
Nine new players will make their debut for the Lady Chaps this season. Eight of the new faces for LCU are freshmen, with all eight coming from Texas. 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.
 
SHUT IT DOWN
Since the program's inception in 2010, the Lady Chaps have recorded at least four shutouts in every single season. LCU talled six shutouts in the 2021 fall season, going 5-0-1 in those contests. Overall, the Lady Chaps have recorded 75 shutouts in program history, compiling a 71-0-4 record in those games.
 
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 57-27-12 in home games all-time, and 7-5-1 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, including three-straight contests at home from Sept. 4-10.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- Western Colorado was placed 11th in the 2022 RMAC women's soccer preseason poll, drawing 37 points
- WCU finished the 2021 fall season, going 5-11-1 overall and 2-9-1 in the RMAC. Like LCU, the Mountaineers started hot, opening the season at 3-2 before going 2-9-1 down the stretch.
- Head coach Amanda Raso enters her third season with WCU. Before arriving in Colorado, Raso was goalkeeper coach for North Dakota, helping lead the team to their first ever Summit League Tournament match in 2019.
- Western Colorado will also play their first two games of the season at Dirks Field in Colorado this weekend. They'll face Chaminade on Aug. 27 at 11 AM central
- Caileen Sienknecht was the leading scorer for the 'Neers last season, scoring three goals. The Manitou Springs, Colo. native also led WCU with six points last season.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE MOUNTAINEERS
WCU holds a 2-0 record all-time against LCU. The two squads last met on Sept. 10, 2015 in Grand Junction, Colo., a 5-0 victory for the Mountaineers. The Lady Chaps have never scored a goal against WCU, as the other game in the series was a 1-0 Mountaineer victory in Lubbock on Sept. 14, 2014.  
 
A WIN WOULD...
 - Give the Lady Chaps their third straight 1-0 start to a season
 - Extend LCU's nonconference unbeaten streak to seven matches
 - Give head coach Alex Denning his 94th win at Lubbock Christian and his 117th overall
 - Be the program's first win ever against Western Colorado
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Chaps will stay in Durango to face host Fort Lewis College in a nonconference match on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 2:30 P.M.