ABILENE – The 2019 ACU women's soccer season gets underway this weekend with a pair of road matchups in the mountain time zone. The Wildcats match up with the New Mexico State Aggies of the Western Athletic Conference in Las Cruces on Friday at 5 p.m. central time, and close out the weekend with a Sunday matinee against the UTEP Miners of Conference USA in El Paso at 2 p.m. central.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
- Both games will have live stat options and live video.
SERIES HISTORY
- ACU and New Mexico State will get together for just the second time ever, after meeting up last season in Las Cruces, N.M. The Wildcats picked up a 3-2 victory with
Christina Arteaga and
Ashley Stamps scoring two of the goals.
- The Wildcats will meet UTEP for the seventh consecutive season, with the series tied at two wins, two losses, and two ties apiece. ACU has won two straight against the Miners, including a 2-1 win in El Paso two years ago and a 1-0 win in Abilene last season.
ACU STORYLINES
- The Wildcats return 23 players from last year's championship campaign, including 16 who played significant minutes.
- ACU returns 72% of its scoring from a season ago, including all-conference performers in Arteaga,
Shay Johnson,
Sophie Standifer,
Brooke Lenz, and the reigning Southland Freshman of the Year,
Alyssia Anuat.
-
Michelle Mulrooney and
Rachel Johnson return from the all-conference list defensively, headlining one of the top defenses in the Southland and the nation.
- The ACU defense led the league in goals allowed, goals allowed per game, goals against average, and shutouts. The Wildcats finished ninth in the nation with a 0.75 shutout percentage.
- Head coach
Casey Wilson added some new faces to his roster this season, with 13 freshmen joining the team. New assistant coach
Neal Ozmun joins the staff in 2019, after a season at Grambling State University.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE
- The Aggies finished 2-16 last season, including a 1-7 mark in the WAC.
- NMSU has 10 new players on its roster, including Phoenix College transfer Eliudth Gonzalez and Oregon State transfer Shea O'Connor.
- The team scored 16 goals in 2018, and surrendered 43 to its opponents.
SCOUTING UTEP
- The Miners went 7-8-4 in 2018, including a 2-5-3 record in Conference USA.
- Nearly half of the players (11 of 24) are freshmen, including both goalkeepers on the squad.
- It's been nearly two decades (14 in 2000) that UTEP has had at least 11 true freshmen on a roster.
