Soccer Looks Onward to South Texas Showdown

Soccer | August 26, 2017

Corpus Christi, Texas - Two of the younger programs in Division I women's soccer will face off this Sunday, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi prepares for its second year of competition in the South Texas Showdown presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, against UTRGV. After a victory over Texas State on Thursday, the Islanders have the potential to pull of their best start to a regular season in program history with a winning result against the Vaqueros. 

The Islanders will look to go 2-1-0 to start a campaign for the first time in the school's five-year history, and their first winning result against the Vaqueros in four matches. 

Freshmen have played a big part for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi this season, accounting for six of the seven individual points the club has recorded in 2017. The UTRGV team the Islanders are looking to play this Sunday will be an experienced one in comparison to the Bobcats, as the Vaqueros started six upperclassmen in their win over Sam Houston State at the UTRGV Tournament.

SERIES HISTORY

• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV prepare for the second installment of the South Texas Showdown, with the Vaqueros leading the all-time series at 2-0-1
• Kaitlyn Joy is the only player on the current Islanders squad to have scored on UTRGV, tallying her lone goal of 2016 against the Vaqueros (8/19/16)
• The Islanders dropped both of their decisions to UTRGV the previous season, tying the Vaqueros 2-2 in 2015. Yvette Franco registered both of Corpus Christi's scores in that match, one of her four career multi-goal matches
• Ten players on the current roster played for the Islanders the last time they played UTRGV, with five of those athletes earning starts
• Goalkeeper Kendall Moody made one of her 11 appearances of the year in that match, stopping seven of the nine shots that she faced
• Nine of the UTRGV starting 11 from the most recent South Texas Showdown return for another season. 11 current Vaqueros competed in that match overall
• UTRGV is the only WAC team Corpus Christi has played in its program's history, while the Vaqueros are 3-1-2 against Southland Conference opponents, not including the Islanders

THE ISLANDERS

• The Islanders' 2-1 win against Texas State on Thursday is their first against the Bobcats over three matches played
• Katie Lawrence's and Mariah Ramon's tallies in San Marcos both tie for the fastest an Islander freshman has scored since coming to the Island
• The Islanders' win marks the first of the Craig Shaw-era, and the first for the coach at the D-I level
• Shaw started six freshman against the Bobcats on Thursday after putting five on the field against the Rice Owls
• With the 2-1 victory, Corpus Christi is now 3-1-1 when scoring two goals over the past two seasons
• The Blue and Green is 5-4-1 over its past ten outings, and 4-3-1 when counting just regular season contests.
• With five saves in the season opener at Rice and an additional four against Texas State, Flax leads her squad in stops and ranks sixth in the Southland Conference concerning saves per match (4.50/gm)
• Freshman Kayla Gove earned her first career-assist against the Bobcats on Thursday, while registering an Islander-high three shots in that match
• The Islanders are 4-4-1 coming off a victory in the previous two regular seasons 

SCOUTING UTRGV

• UTRGV has gone 2-0 to start the 2017 season, beating Sam Houston State and Prairie View A&M at the self-hosted UTRGV Tournament.
• While the Vaqueros have beaten Corpus Christi in the only match the two played in Edinburg, UTRGV went just 3-4 at home last season with nine goals against in those games.
• Junior Diandra Aliaga leads the Vaqueros with two goals on 10 shots this year. The forward scored both of her goals off the eight attempts she had on net against Sam Houston
• The 2016 Vaqueros were the winningest side in the program's Division-I history going 10-8-1.
• UTRGV led the NCAA in SOGs per match last year (9.11) and ranked eighth in shots per match overall (18.11)
• The Vaqueros have continued to their 2016 form, averaging 16.5 shots per match in the present season, and 9.0 shots on goal per game
• UTRGV is 6-7-3 coming off a win since the start of the 2015 season

STAY SOCIAL

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