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Tim Nelson

Women's Soccer

No. 3 Wildcats set for rematch with UIW in first round

ABILENE – After a regular season that encompassed the fall for a few games, moved to the spring, and had multiple cancellations and postponements, we have reached the most important part. The postseason is finally here. The ACU soccer team, the No. 3 seed, opens the 2020-21 Southland Conference Tournament on Tuesday, April 13 with a first round matchup against the No. 6 seed UIW Cardinals. It's a quick rematch of two teams who saw each other on the final Friday of the regular season. The kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. at the LU Soccer Complex, the site of the historic 2018 tournament that featured ACU's first Southland Tournament championship. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE GAME

SERIES HISTORY

It will be the first postseason meeting between the schools. ACU leads the 13-year series with UIW 10-3-2 all-time. It was been nothing but success for ACU in the Division I era, leading UIW 7-0-1 since the jump up in 2013, including six straight victories. The last loss to the Cardinals came in September 2012 in San Antonio, and since then, the lone non-win was a tie in 2014 in the Alamo City. ACU won 2-0 in the regular season finale on Friday.

ACU STORYLINES

  • HOT AT THE RIGHT TIME: ACU is on a streak of seven straight matches without a loss, including the home win over UIW on Friday, 2-0. Natalie Jones and Megan Paul scored first-half goals, and the defense held strong for the eighth shutout of the season. It's the best time of year to be playing your best soccer.
  • ALL CONFERENCE: Five Wildcats earned post-season honors Monday, as announced by the league. Christina Arteaga was named to the SLC First Team for the fourth straight year, while Natalie Jones and Megan Paul earned second team honors. Ellen Joss and Gabby Symmank were named to the third team as well.
  • NCAA RANKS: The Wildcats rank 19th in the country in shot attempts per game with 16.5. The team is also 34th nationally with 27 goals scored this season. Individually, Erin Smith ranks second in the country in total minutes played in net (1,735), fifth in the country with eight shutouts, and 12th in the nation with 75 total saves. Christina Arteaga ranks 25th nationally with 3.9 shot attempts per game.
  • SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT HISTORY: ACU has qualified for the tournament every year they've been eligible. The program is 3-1-2 all-time in the tournament. In 2017, ACU won on PKs against McNeese before losing on PKs to SFA. 2018 was the magical ride that included wins over McNeese, Central Arkansas, and SFA to win the tournament title and appear in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. ACU fell to McNeese in the 2019 tournament the last time it took place.

SCOUTING UIW (6-4-3, 5-3-3 SLC)

  • The Cardinals loss to ACU snapped a six match streak of no losses, as the team was 4-0-2 in that span. UIW tied Central Arkansas, 1-1, last Thursday, before closing the weekend with a 1-0 win over Northwestern State, but fell 2-0 at ACU.
  • Hannah Walsh leads the way with four goals scored this season, but nine different players have scored for UIW. Sierra Wannamaker is the team-leader in shot attempts with 37, and 94 of the teams 202 shot attempts have been placed on frame this year.
  • Margaret Kofron is 6-3-3 in net this season, and has tallied 28 saves. UIW has shut five teams out this season, and had allowed just nine total goals this season before ACU scored twice on them in the regular season finale. Kofron played the first 45 minutes in net before UIW made a switch to Makenzie Hall, who finished with one save.