Soccer Set for Kick Cancer Match on Friday

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Entering its final regular-season game of the 2016 season, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's soccer team has one objective on its mind – win. The Islanders (3-13-1, 3-6-1) face Houston Baptist (6-10-1, 4-5-1) at 7:30 p.m. at the Dugan Soccer Stadium with a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament on the line.
 
The path to the Southland Conference Tournament is fairly straightforward for the Islanders this week - win and they are in. Sitting eighth in the conference table on 10 points, the Islanders need to defeat Houston Baptist to move into the top-six spots in the standings.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi boosted put itself in prime position to reach the tournament after a four-point weekend on the road. The Islanders topped Lamar 2-1 last Friday, before a 2-2 double-overtime draw with McNeese on Sunday.
 
Friday is the annual Kick Cancer match for Islanders Soccer. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society, and the first 200 fans to the Jack will receive a pink Islanders Soccer t-shirt to match the team's warm-up tops.
 
The game will be broadcast on the Islanders Digital Network for free.
 
SERIES HISTORY     
• Needing a win in the final game of the regular season, the Blue and Green aims to break a three-game losing skid against the Huskies.
• After clinching their first appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament in program history last season, the Islanders dropped the regular-season finale 1-0 in Sugar Land.
• With a win on Friday, A&M-Corpus Christi can move to .500 at home against Houston Baptist.
 
LAST MATCHES      
• A&M-Corpus Christi wrapped up its road schedule last weekend with a win and a tie at Lamar and McNeese, respectively.
• After falling behind on Friday against the Cardinals, Yvette Franco pulled the Islanders level with her fourth goal of the campaign. Two minutes from time, Brooke Erdmann beat the goalkeeper from 30 yards to give the Blue and Green a much-needed victory.
• On Sunday, Erdmann stole the show with a pair of scores. The Islanders emerged from the halftime break trailing 1-0, but Meghan Cordero sent a free kick into the box for Erdmann to volley home 63 seconds into the second period. Erdmann appeared to score a last-minute winner for the second consecutive game in the 87th, only for the Cowgirls to level the score in the final minute of regulation. A pair of overtimes could not separate the two clubs, as it ended in a 2-2 draw.
 
ERDMANN SNAGS WEEKLY HONORS     
• Redshirt-junior Brooke Erdmann earned Co-Offensive Player of the Week laurels from the Southland Conference for her three-goal outburst against Lamar and McNeese.
• The Deer Park native set a new career-high for goals in a season with four this year. Now with six goals in her career, Erdmann moved into second place on the all-time scoring list.
• With two goals against McNeese, Erdmann became the first Islander not named Yvette Franco to score multiple times in a match, a feat Franco has achieved four times.
 
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
• With their next goal, the Islanders will have the most productive season in program history with 16 goals.
• A&M-Corpus Christi tied the school record for goals in the scoring with 15, set by the 2014 and 2015 teams, after bagging four goals over the weekend.
• This season, the Islanders have been led by Franco and Erdmann with four goals, while rookie Shayla Spearman has added a trio of scores.
 
FRANCO EXTENDS RECORD
• Yvette Franco started the 2016 campaign as the program's leader in goals, assists, points, shots and shots on goal.
• After being held off the scoresheet for the first 12 games of the year, Franco has notched four goals, including a pair of game-winning efforts against NSU (Oct. 14) and Incarnate Word (Oct. 7).
• She added a game-tying strike against Lamar last Friday and set up Brooke Erdmann's game winner with a long ball over the back line.
• Entering her final regular season game, Franco holds the record for goals (19), assists (4), points (43), game-winning goals (4), shots (107) and multi-goal games (4).
 
SCOUTING HOUSTON BAPTIST
• Houston Baptist enters the weekend with a 6-10-1 record overall and 4-5-1 mark in conference play, good for fourth in the standings with 13 points.
• The Huskies are in a similar situation to the Islanders heading into the final weekend of the regular season. A win or a tie will secure a place in the Southland Conference Tournament. With a loss, Houston Baptist would need help from other results in the league to qualify.
• After a promising start to the Southland campaign, the Huskies have struggled of late, with just three points in the last five matches.
• Offensively, Gabby Rodriguez has been the biggest threat with six goals on the year, while Allison Abendschein and Sabriah Spencer have added five scores.
• Katie Turner and Alanis Guevara have split time in goal, with the latter taking over in the last four games. As a staff, the Huskies have a 1.72 goals against average this year.

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