Women's Soccer | 09.02.2026
LADY CHAP HEADERS
- Lubbock Christian will play its final two non-conference games of the season this weekend, heading to the Centennial State to take on Western Colorado and CSU-Pueblo
- Four different Lady Chaps scored goals on the opening weekend of the season, including Logan Holloway, Mia Chambliss, Kaslee Roskelley and Kenzie Tosch
- LCU will play their first two road games of the 2025 season this weekend in a schedule that features nine total games away from the friendly confines
- The Lady Chaps will be meeting Western Colorado for the third time in program history and the first time since 2022, holding a 1-2-0 all-time record against them
- LCU met CSU-Pueblo last season, securing a 4-1 win in a game that featured goals by Chambliss, Lexi De La Cruz and Ella Spiller on 12 shots on goal
ROAD JOURNAL
This weekend's contests mark the first of nine road games on the season for Lubbock Christian. LCU went 4-3-1 away from home in 2025, marking the first time they were better than .500 on the road since 2019. The road wins a year ago came against Adams State, Eastern New Mexico, Texas A&M International and West Texas A&M, and three of the four were shutouts. Thursday's game is at Kate O. Rady Field, which has the distinction of being the highest collegiate soccer field in the world at 7,723 feet. CSU-Pueblo plays at Gonzales Stadium. Both venues feature an artificial turf playing surface.
HAPPY TO HELP
The Lady Chap recorded assists on three of the four goals they scored on opening weekend, including a pair of helpers on one of them. The four assists are the third-most of any team in the LSC so far this season. The helpers came from
Logan Holloway,
Journey Curs,
Araceli Patterson and
Lauren Rotan. LCU's assist leader in 2025 was
Riley Espinoza, who had five last season and is back with the Lady Chaps for her junior campaign.
GUESS WHO'S BACK
Of the four goals scored by the Lady Chaps last weekend, three came from team veterans, including Holloway, Chambliss, and Tosch. The goal from Tosch was the first of her collegiate career and came in the game against Wayland Baptist. In total are 19 players on the 2026 Lady Chap roster who are returning to the team. This group also includes
Casey Storer, Curs and Rotan, who played more than 1000 minutes in 2025, along with
Sydney Smith, who was named to the LSC All-Freshman Team last year.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The fourth goal was scored by
Kaslee Roskelley, a transfer from Northwest Nazarene who joined the Lady Chaps mid-year last year. Patterso, who recorded an assist and played the second-most minutes of any LCU player, is also a freshman brand new to the team. There are 11 total newcomers on the team, four of which are transfers and the other seven of which are freshmen. Six of the freshmen hail from the Lone Star State with one from Arizona.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Lone Star Conference announced its 2026 women's soccer preseason poll and players to watch on Wednesday, with Lubbock Christian University picked to finish ninth and
Riley Espinoza,
Casey Storer and
Emma Wright named players to watch. LCU garnered 336 points in the poll overall, just behind the 338 of eight place St. Edward's, but well ahead of West Texas A&M in 10th. The preseason poll is voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
KEEPING UP WITH THE LADY CHAPS
Four different players appeared in goal during the opening weekend, including
Emma Wright,
Kara Murray,
Dylan Smith and Nancy Taylro. Wright played the entirety of the game against Fort Lewis and was in goal for every minute of the 2025 season. Her three saves against the Skyhawks put her over 100 for her collegiate career. The appearances by Taylor and Smith were both their first as a Lady Chap.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- Western Colorado made a road trip to Texas and went 1-1 to open the season, beating WT but losing to ENMU
- Adah Minikel-Lacocque led the Mountaineer offense, scoring a goal in each of the games they played in the Lone Star State
- Western was picked to finish 10th in the RMAC preseason poll after finishing ninth each of the last four seasons
- Head Coach Joshua Alcala is in his third season leading the Mountaineer program after previously coaching at Colorado College
- Ashlyn Fitzpatrick has seen the most playing time in goal so far, but Western has also used Addison Blick and Pesley Glass
SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
- CSUP also made a trip down south to open the 2026 season, tying with Sul Ross and losing 3-1 to Angelo State
- The only goal scored by the Thunderwolves in the first two games came from Nadia Bailey, who played 163 minutes on the weekend
- CSUP was picked to finish ninth in the 13-team RMAC Preseason Poll
- Head Coach John Constable is in his third season leading the Pack after previously coaching at Jacksonville State
- Peppi Niemi played all 180 minutes in goal for the Thunderwolves, notching 12 saves and a .800 save percentage
