ODESSA, Texas - After going undefeated in nonconference play, the Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps open Lone Star Conference play on the road, facing rival Texas Permian Basin on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

Lubbock Christian (3-0-3) at Texas Permian Basin (2-1-1)
Sept. 14 - 5 PM
Odessa, Texas - UTPB Soccer Field

LADY CHAP HEADERS
• Lubbock Christian rallied with a late Julie Shahi goal to record their third tie of the season, a 2-2 decision against Colorado Mesa on Saturday, Sept. 10

• LCU is tied for fifth place in D-II as a team with Christian Brothers in assists with 15. Avery Jennings is tied for 20th in the nation individually with three.

• Lexi De La Cruz's seven goals is tied for the third most in the Lone Star Conference this season, with her 19 shots on goal second in the conference and tied for third nationally. The seven goals are also tied for the seventh most in all of Division II as of press time.

Arely Jimenez needs to play just four minutes to pass Haley Knesek for ninth most minutes played all time. Jimenez has played for 4740 minutes so far in her career in 68 games, the eighth most games played in program history. She can tie Audra Park and Kate O'Gara for sixth all-time with 69 games played.

DISHING IT OUT
The Lady Chaps have been sharing the ball at will this season, with nine players recording at least one assist. Arely Jimenez and Stephanie McClung have tallied two assists this season, while Avery Jennings leads the team with three. McClung has found the offensive firepower as of late, recording a goal or an assist in four straight matches.

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. The freshman out of Uvalde, Texas faced 12 total shots in two matches against Western Colorado and Fort Lewis this past weekend, tallying four saves while going 1-0-1 in the Centennial State.
It is 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.


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. She currently ranks second in the Lone Star Conference in points (15) and third in goals (7), and second in the conference in shots on goal (19) and third in shots (26).

SHUT IT DOWN
Since the program's inception in 2010, the Lady Chaps have recorded at least four shutouts in every single season. LCU tallied six shutouts in the 2021 fall season, going 5-0-1 in those contests. The Lady Chaps have already compiled three shutouts this season, and now hold a 73-0-5 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 58-27-14 in home games all-time, and 8-5-3 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 FALCONS
- UTPB was picked to finish 12th in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. UTPB started the season 2-0 for the first time in program history.
- The Falcons enter the contest with a 2-1-1 record, coming off of a 5-0 loss to Division-I Tarleton State. The Falcons two wins are over NAIA Southwest and Division-III Sul Ross State. UTPB's last win over a Division-II team was Oct. 20, 2021 against Eastern New Mexico
- The leading goal scorer for the Falcons is Kaylee Overmeyer. Overmeyer recorded a hat trick against Southwest on just five shots, while also scoring a goal against Wayland Baptist. 
- Jenna McEnaney has started all four matches for UTPB in goal, recording shutouts against Southwest and Sul Ross State. Her seven saves and .538 save percentage are the lowest in the Lone Star Conference
- Carla Tejas enters her first season as head coach of the Falcons. Tejas helped engineer one of the biggest turnarounds in college soccer history, as she took Louisiana Christian College who went 1-16-1 in 2019 to a 16-2-1 record in 2021 and reached the NAIA National Tournament. As a player, she played collegiately at LSU at Alexandria as a goalkeeper winning five games and allowing just 1.275 goals per game.  She also played internationally for her home country of Chile, representing them for seven years.  Tejas participated in the U17 World Cup as a member of the team.


THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS
The Lady Chaps lead the series with UTPB 11-2-1 all-time, and have won eight matches in a row. The last two meetings have been 2-0 shutout wins for the Lady Chaps, as the Falcons have been outscored 27-1 during this eight match stretch. UTPB scored a goal in a 2-1 loss to LCU on Feb. 24, 2021, breaking a 553:48 scoreless streak against the Chaps. The Falcons have not scored against LCU since then, going scoreless in the last 214:16 of game action.

A WIN WOULD
- Be the ninth straight win for LCU over UTPB
- Be the first conference win of the season
- Be the 120th win overall in coach Alex Denning's career

UP NEXT
The Lady Chaps return home on Saturday, Sept. 17 to face no. 1 Dallas Baptist in their conference home opener. Kickoff is set for 1 PM