ABILENE - The ACU soccer team heads to Waco Thursday for its regular-season opener at Baylor. The Wildcats and Bears kick off at 7 p.m. before the team returns to Abilene for its home opener Sunday, Aug. 19. ACU will play host to the UTEP Miners at 7 p.m. at Elmer Gray Stadium to wrap up the opening week of play.
"The ladies have been working hard the past two weeks," said Head Coach
Casey Wilson. "We are looking forward to getting things going to see where we are as a team. We will be challenged right away [at Baylor] but that is always good for us and helps us grow. We felt practice today was good this last week and we feel good about our responsibilities position-wise. We know the small details matter, and we are excited to get started."
THE SERIES… ACU and Baylor will meet for the first time in the regular season on Thursday. The two played in the 2017 preseason, with the Bears holding on for a 2-0 win. In 2015, Baylor won their exhibition contest as well, 4-1. Both contests took place in Waco. ACU and UTEP are matching up for the sixth consecutive year. The Wildcats are 1-2-2 vs. the Miners, but every game has been decided by one goal or less. ACU captured its first win against UTEP last fall with a 2-1 result in El Paso.
SCOUTING THE BEARS… Baylor, the reigning Big 12 tournament champion, was picked to finish third in the conference, tying with Texas in the preseason poll. The Bears enter the season at No. 15 in the national polls, and are coming off the most successful postseason run in program history in 2017. BU secured a Big 12 tournament title before advancing through to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Championship, and finished the season 15-6-3. Nineteen players return to the team, including seven starters. Baylor tied Sam Houston State, 1-1, in an exhibition match on Aug. 10.
SCOUTING THE MINERS… UTEP returns 18 letter winners in 2018, and has eight starters back for head coach Kevin Cross. The top three goal scorers are back in the mix in addition to players responsible for 21 of the 27 goals scored a season ago. The Miners went 8-11 in 2017, and return sophomore Vic Bohdan, who was named to the 2018 Conference USA preseason team. UTEP opens the season against Lubbock Christian before heading to Abilene on Sunday.
WRAPPING UP THE PRESEASON… The Wildcats put a bow on their 2018 preseason with the annual Purple/White Intrasquad scrimmage, with White pulling away late with a 3-1 win. Junior
Shay Johnson, who was tabbed First Team Preseason All-Southland, scored twice in the match to propel her side to victory. Preseason first-teamer
Christina Arteaga also scored for Team White and
Brittney Harris scored the lone Team Purple goal.
ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SOUTHLAND POLL… The Southland Conference released their annual preseason poll, and ACU was picked third this season after a sixth-place finish in 2017. The defending champions from Lamar were picked to win the league, with Stephen F. Austin tabbed to finish second. ACU totaled 182 points in the poll voted on by the Southland coaches.
FOUR NAMED PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE… Along with Johnson and Arteaga, senior
Dylan Owens and junior
Michelle Mulrooney were tabbed to the preseason All-Southland Team. Owens joined Johnson and Arteaga on the first team, while Mulrooney was listed on the second team. Arteaga is the league's reigning Freshman of the Year, while Owens earned first team honors. Johnson and Mulrooney each earned a 2017 honorable mention.
FORECASTING THE SCHEDULE… ACU will play host to nine matches at Elmer Gray Stadium this season, including six Southland contests. The team is on the road four times in a five-match span in early September, with the lone home contest against New Mexico State on Sept. 2. The team travels to Baylor, Texas Tech, North Alabama, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the non-conference schedule before league play begins on Sept. 21. ACU hosts their Pink Game on Oct. 5 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Senior Night is scheduled for the season-finale on Oct. 26 against Incarnate Word.
