Live Stats | Game Notes

LAREDO, Texas (August 30, 2017) - The Texas A&M International University women's soccer team open the 2017 season on Thursday, August 31, with a neutral site matchup against Delta State of the Gulf South Conference. The game scheduled for 1 p.m. on the campus of Richland College will be the first ever meeting between the two programs. Live stats will be available on GoDustdevils.com under the women's soccer schedule tab.
 
The Dustdevils will open the season on the road for the sixth straight season. They last opened the season on a neutral site in 2014 when they defeated Ouachita Baptist 2-1 in San Antonio in 2014.
 
A LOOK AT THE DUSTDEVILS
The Dustdevils return 11 letter winners from a 2016 squad that finished eighth in the Heartland Conference. TAMIU will look to return to the Heartland Conference Tournament for the first time since 2014 when they fell in the semifinals to Dallas Baptist.
 
The Dustdevils may have one of the most underrated group of forwards in the Heartland Conference thanks to the return of Cio Bargallo along with a handful of newcomers. Bargallo scored a team-high six goals en route to earned 3rd Team All-Conference honors last season. The Blanes, Spain, native, will be joined by junior transfer Valeria Macias and freshman Nicole Cohen. Macias joins the Dustdevils after spending time at Texas State while Cohen was an elite scorer during her high school career at Bel Air High School in El Paso, Texas scoring more than 100 goals. Tiandra Draggon and Martha Perez will also add depth upfront after playing significant roles last year as freshmen.
 
The midfield is a mixture of experience in youth as Abigail Comlenares and Brenda Garica return for their senior campaigns. Sophomores Monica Castro and Samantha Ruiz played key roles last year as freshman while the likes of Tayler Schott, Angela Escandon, Amy Rios and Aracelie Martinez will be expected to produce as well.
 
The defense is young but talented as junior Jaquelinn Moreno and sophomores Chanell Massy and Susanna Abrahamsson are the only returners. Look for Laura Tonkin, Michell Salinas, Rebecca Rivas, Viviana Parada and Tamara Cafuta to play significant minutes for the Dustdevils this fall.
 
The Dustdevils fortified the goalkeeper position this past spring when the signings of Aubrey Hall and Elaine Salazar. Hall comes to Laredo from Folsom Lake College where she was one of the top goalies in all of the CCCAA in 2016 with a 0.62 goals against average while her team made it all the way to the Final Four. Salazar was a two-year started at Jarvis Christian College including 18 starts in her final season making 129 saves.
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY STATESMEN
Luke Sheekey enters his second season in charge at Delta State as the Lady Statesmen return eight seniors from a squad that went 6-11 in 2016. Leading the way upfront will be Katie Swaine and midfielders Ali Sullivan and Lakyn Cryder.
 
Swaine finished second on the team with five goals and 14 points on 17 shots, 12 of which were on-target from her forward position. Sullivan is the top returning attacking midfielder for DSU as the Florence, Miss. native scored three goals. Cryder was equally impressive during her junior campaign with one goal and three assists in 2016. Another name to look out for during Thursday's match will be Cat Buckley as the freshman scored more than 30 girls during her final season at Eagles Landing Christian Academy.
 
Defensively, junior Maggie Amos returns for her junior season after playing in 17 matches including 16 starts for 1,237 minutes last season. Taylor Wyatt and Shannon Thomas also bring experience to young DSU defense with over 800 minutes on the pitch in 2016.
 
Ella Hunkin is the lone returning goalkeeper who saw playing time in 2016 going 1-2 in five appearances making 19 saves on 63 shots faced. The sophomore from Basingtoke, England will see competition from Ana Branch and Heather Travis.
 
NEW PHONE, WHO DIS?
A slew of Dustdevils will be sporting new numbers when the team takes the field on Thursday afternoon. Of the 10 players returning, seven retained the same number from last year. Cio Bargallo moves into the single-digits going from 28 to 2 while Abigail Colmenares will move to 7 from 19. Sophomore Samantha Ruiz is the lone Dustdevil to go up in numbers, as she will sport No. 10 after wearing 6 during her first season in Laredo.
 
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE RELEASES PRESEASON POLL
The Heartland Conference released the 2017 edition of the preseason poll on Aug. 23, as voted on by the head coaches and sports information directors. The Dustdevils were picked to finish 18th with 18 points while Dallas Baptist University was picked to win their first regular season title since 2015 picking up 11 of 16 first-place votes.
 
2016 Regular Season Champions St. Edward's were picked to finish second after earning four first-place votes with Lubbock Christian tabbed to finish third. Rogers State was picked fourth followed by Newman, St. Mary's, Oklahoma Christian and TAMIU.
 
DUO OF FORMER DUSTDEVILS JOIN COACHING STAFF
Former Dustdevil players Salomon Moctezuma and Angel Robles joined the coaching staff for the men's and women's coaching staffs this past summer. Moctezuma returns to TAMIU after spending the spring at Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas where he worked under former All-Heartland Conference performer and former Dustdevil Jovany Macias. Robles joins the staff after spending the past year playing professional overseas in Bulgaria and Ukraine. Ryan Hodgson and Tayeb Ahmadi also joined the staff as student assistants as they finish their respective degrees.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
After taking on the Lady Statesmen in Dallas, the Dustdevils will return home for their Heartland Conference opener on Tuesday, Sept. 5 against St. Mary's. It is the third straight season that the Dustdevils and Rattlers will open conference play against each other. The first 100 fans to the match will received a free t-shirt and a chance to compete in the Go for Goal Halftime Promotion.