Islanders Close Out Home Stand Against Wildcats

Soccer | October 04, 2017

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - After playing a pair of overtime matches the previous weekend, the Islanders host Abilene Christian in the last contest of their three-match home stand on Friday at 7:30 p.m. 

The Blue and Green worked to a scoreless draw with visiting Southeastern Louisiana before suffering a loss to Nicholls in extra minutes last week, in the clubs' third and fourth overtime matches of 2017. ACU comes to the Island riding a 1-1 record from the previous weekend, scoring a single match-high in 2017 Southland play with six goals against visiting Northwestern State

The stingy Islander defense will face one of the most pressing offenses in the country the coming matchday, with ACU's average of 8.67 shots on goal per match ranking 12th in D-I women's soccer and the Islanders' 1.11 goals against average sitting second in the Southland. Set piece success could be the difference maker in the two clubs' matchup, with both sides drawing better than 10 fouls per match, and ACU earning a conference-best 5.33 corners per competition. 

PROMOTIONS
>> Islanders Fidget Spinner Giveaway: First 200 fans to Friday's match get a free Islanders fidget spinner

SERIES HISTORY

• The Islanders are 1-2-1 against the Wildcats all-time, and 1-1 when playing Abilene Christian inside of Dugan Stadium
• Brook Erdmann is the only member of the active Blue and Green roster to have scored against the Wildcats in her career, tallying her first goal of the season in the first half of the Islanders 2015 match versus ACU  
• Four players on the current roster scored a start against Abilene Christian in 2016, with five more making appearances off the bench
• Kendall Moody made her sixth appearance of the season against the Wildcats last year, stopping four of five shots on goal during the second half
• Five Wildcats from last year's starting XI are on the team's current roster, with another seven coming in as substitutes in last year's competition 
• ACU has outscored the Islanders' 8-4 over the four matches played against one another, the Blue and Green have won the only match where they've scored multiple goals

THE ISLANDERS

• Corpus Christi went to extra time for the third and fourth times this season against Southeastern La. and Nicholls, tying a single season program record for overtime matches played
• The Islanders finished their match with the Lions in a scoreless tie, their second 0-0 finish on the year. Jordan Wainwright's clean sheet in that match is her second of the year and the third of her career, placing her second in program history overall
• Kaitlyn Joy moved into a tie for the team's leading-scorer, grabbing her second tally of the year in the first half against Nicholls
• Wainwright made eight saves against SLU, one short of the season-high she set in a double-overtime draw with UTRGV
• Defender Siri O'Donnell tallied the first points of her career, with an assist on Joy's goal against Nicholls, tallying a career-high two shots in the process
• The Islanders outshot Nicholls 15-7, the fourth time they've outshot an opponent on the season
• Corpus Christi's 2-1 overtime loss to the Colonels puts their extra time record at 0-2-2 on the year
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's loss to the Bearkats two weeks ago ended the program's longest running unbeaten streak (4)
• The Islanders' longest running shutout streak came to an end against the Bearkats as well. After 344 minutes without a goal against, the Blue and Green's new record is nearly 50 minutes longer than its previous best
• Head Coach Craig Shaw started nine freshman against Nicholls last week, the most he's started in a single match this season
• The Blue and Green is 7-7-3 over its past 17 outings, and is 6-1-1 when scoring multiple goals during that span
• Erdmann is the Islanders' current active-leader in goals (7), points (16), appearances (65) and match starts (56), she is five caps away from tying a program record
• There will be four McKinney Boyd HS alumni on the field this Friday, with the Islanders' Celia Hilsabeck and Rebekah Mooibroek facing off against former teammates Chloe Fifer and Gabrielle Symmank of Abilene Christian

SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN

• The Wildcats enter this Friday's contest after dropping six goals against Northwestern State at home. ACU is 3-2 in the Southland on the year with a 1-0 win over SLU and a 2-1 double OT win versus HBU
• Abilene Christian provides as much offensive pressure as anyone else in the country averaging 17.5 shots per match and 8.67 SOGs per match. Both of those numbers rank second in the Southland, and sit 24th and 12th in Division I women's soccer respectively
• ACU has a plethora of offensive options with 12 players picking up points in 2017. Nine of those athletes have at least one goal on the season
• Christina Arteaga and Dylan Owens are tied for a team lead with four goals apiece. Arteaga is averaging 1.83 shots on goal per match, placing her 45th in the country, and third in the Southland
• Freshman goalkeeper Erin Smith has started nine of the Wildcats' 12 matches this season, and leads the squad with 37 saves and four wins
• ACU is one of the few teams in the conference to draw more penalties than the Islanders this year, as opponents have fouled the Wildcats a total of 123 times
• With 14 of ACU's 23 goals scored in the first half, Abilene is 2-2 when tied at halftime and 3-0 bringing a lead to the break

Islanders fans can follow Friday's action with the Wildcats live on the Islander Digital Network along with all other Texas A&M-Corpus Christi home competitions this year. In addition to the online stream, all of this weekend's events can be followed via live stats provided by SideArm Sports.

COMING UP NEXT
With their home stint in the books the Islanders will get back on the road next week, traveling up north to face Central Arkansas before coming down to Natchitoches for a matchup with Northwestern State. The Blue and Green went 1-1 against those two sides in 2016 with a 1-0 victory against the Demons inside of Dugan Stadium.

STAY SOCIAL
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