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WSOC NCAA First Round Preview Graphic

PREVIEW | Women's Soccer Ready for St. Mary's to Open NCAA Tournament

11/15/2023 1:00:00 PM

By: Jake Ross, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
  • The University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions look to get back to their winning ways and make a run at the National Championship after stubbing their toe in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
  • The Rattlers took care of business at the end of the regular season, winning three of their final four games in the last two weeks of the season. St. Mary's drew St. Edward's University (2-0 win), and Angelo State University (3-0 W) on their way to the Lone Star Championship game where they fell 4-0 to Dallas Baptist University. 
GAME COVERAGE TICKETS
  • Ticket prices are set at $10 and can be purchased online here.
LONE STAR CONFERENCE NETWORK
  • Fans unable to attend in-person will be able to watch the match on the Lone Star Conference Network. There is a direct link to the broadcast here, and can also be accessed by clicking the watch button on the women's soccer schedule page.
2023 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW
  • The Mountain Lions had a slow start to the year going 0-2-1 in their opening three matches, but a 5-1 home win over Southwestern Oklahoma State ignited their season as they captured a 2-0-1 record on the back half of the non-conference schedule.
  • UCCS carried their momentum into the start of conference play, winning their first six matches of the RMAC portion of the schedule.
  • A draw in Denver vs Regis and a home loss to then #6 Colorado Mesa was the first adversity the Mountain Lions faced, but they responded with a vengeance, finishing the year with four consecutive wins, outscoring their opponents 9-0 in their final four matches.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
  • UCCS grabbed the #4 seed in the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships, trailing Dallas Baptist, Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado Mesa for the top three seeds.
  • The top six teams from each region earned a bid to the NCAA DII Women's Soccer Championship beginning Thursday. UCCS is a member of the South-Central Region which is comprised of the RMAC out of Colorado and Lone Star Conference out of Texas.
  • The final two seeds were claimed by St. Mary's University at #5, who will face UCCS in the first round, and Texas Woman's University at #6 who will face Colorado Mesa in the first round in Golden, Colorado.
RMAC LEADERS
  • The Mountain Lions allowed the second fewest goals in the RMAC, only conceding 11 goals in their 18 regular season matches. The only team in the conference with fewer was Colorado School of Mines who gave up just eight goals in the same number of matches. Their 11 clean sheets also ranked second in the conference behind the Orediggers. Despite their second-place finish in goals allowed, UCCS was tied for sixth in the conference in saves, which is a testament to the lockdown defense the backline was able to provide throughout the season.
  • UCCS was among the elite scoring squads this fall as well, checking in with the fourth most goals in the RMAC with 36. Colorado School of Mines scored the most with 52, and Regis (50) and Colorado Mesa (42) bridged the at 2nd and 3rd most. Individually, Makayla Merlo lead the Mountain Lions with seven goals, including the game winner against CSU Pueblo which clinched the RMAC regular season title for UCCS, a mark that earned her sixth most of RMAC players. Merlo's four game winning goals is second most in the conference, only CMU's Sauvelyne Randel has more with five.
  • On the wing Fie Steenberg has been a creator for UCCS this season, holding a tie for the fourth most assists in the conference with six. Anna Vince also sits in the top 10 of that category with her four helpers, which has her tied for ninth.
  • In frame, UCCS' Isabella Whitmore has been a wall this season. Her .444 Shutouts Per Game is the best of any keeper in the conference, as she sits third in Goals Against Average (.67) and third in saves with 55 (.825 Save percent).
RMAC AWARDS
  • This fall saw three Mountain Lions bring home Player of the Week selections, with Isabella Whitmore earning two Goalkeeper of the Week highlights, and Jade Kinsey earning two Defensive Player of the Week honors. Makayla Merlo took home the Offensive Player of the Week honor in the final week of the regular season for her only weekly honor this year.
  • Six Mountain Lions brought home All-Conference distinctions highlighted by Isabella Whitmore being named RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Head Coach J. B. Belzer being named Coach of the Year. Whitmore, Jade Kinsey, Makayla Merlo, and Fie Steenberg garnered All-RMAC First Team selections, with Abby Barhydt and Emily Aguilar being named to the Second Team.
ALL-TIME SERIES
  • UCCS and St. Mary's have only faced off once in the history of the two programs, which took place during the regular season down in San Antionio, Texas, with the Mountain Lions and Rattlers drawing that match 1-1.
SCOUTING ST. MARY'S
  • St. Mary's put together a strong campaign this fall, ending the conference season with a 10-5-5 record including a trip to the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship.
  • After a red-hot start winning their initial four games of the season, the Rattlers cooled off going 0-1-4 in their next five matches, a stretch that included a 1-1 draw vs. UCCS in Texas.
  • Sophomore midfielder Shelby Paniagua leads the Rattlers offense with an impressive nine goal total. Paired with her staggering 11 assists, she owns a whopping 29 points on the season.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
  • Redshirt senior defender Jade Kinsey is currently second all-time for minutes played with 5,786 career minutes. She needs just seven more minutes to become the all-time program leader.
  • Playing in her final season as a Mountain Lion, redshirt junior Makayla Merlo ranks in the top ten in program history for goals (fifth with 22), assists (tied eighth with 10), points (sixth with 54), shots (tied 3rd with 149), and shots on goal (fifth with 69).
  • In just her first season in Colorado Springs, graduate goalkeeper Isabella Whitmore has already put her name in the record book as she ranks 9th all-time in saves with 55, second all-time in goals against average at 0.67, and she checks in third all-time in clean sheets with her eight this season, needing just three more to tie the season record of 11 set by Alexis Walker last fall.
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH J. B. Belzer
  • Head coach J. B. Belzer is in his 4th season as the UCCS skipper holding a 53-13-7 record in his time in the Springs. Belzer is in his 28th season in the RMAC after spending 24 years at Regis University in Denver. Overall Belzer owns an impressive 369-159-44 record on his career between Regis and UCCS, owning the 8th most wins out of active Division II coaches. He has the 15th most wins in the history of Division II women's soccer.
  • During his time at UCCS Belzer has guided the Mountain Lions to a regular season title in three out of his four seasons, with one RMAC tournament championship in 2021.
  • The Mountain Lions have qualified for the NCAA national championship tournament in every season Belzer has coached at UCCS, with the lone exception being in 2020 when the championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 season was the most successful NCAA tournament run for the Mountain Lions under Belzer, who made it into the final 16 teams before falling to Dallas Baptist 1-0.
WEATHER
  • The forecast for Thursday afternoon for campus at Dallas Baptist calls for mostly sunny skies with a daytime high of 71 degrees and a nighttime low of 55 degrees.
UP NEXT
  • The winner of the first-round matchup between the Mountain Lions and Rattlers will advance to the second matchup to play the #1 seeded and host school Dallas Baptist University on Saturday.
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