9/11/2019 | Women’s Soccer
PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico women’s soccer team will open up their 2019 home schedule with two games over the course of the weekend with games on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon.
The Hounds will welcome two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) foes into Greyhound Stadium, with Adams State coming to town on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. kick-off and Fort Lewis making their way south for a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon match-up.
Last Week
The Greyhounds were able to defeat East Central this past Thursday by a score of 1-0, earning their first opening day win since 2006. The result marks the third time Eastern has started the year with a victory in the 17-year history of the ENMU women’s soccer program. The Hounds were able to avenge a 2-0 defeat at the feet of the Tigers last season, as ECU gave Eastern its first home loss of 2018.
The game remained scoreless at the half, but redshirt-junior Kierra Diaz broke up the tie at the 60:55 mark to give the Hounds the 1-0 advantage. Junior Caitlyn Schmidt sent a lead pass to play Diaz into the attacking zone as the forward scanned the goal and hit a stellar left footed shot over the keeper’s head. Eastern came out strong and continued its relentless attack throughout the match, out-shooting the Tigers 21-9.
Junior goalkeeper Whitney Dockweiler began her ENMU career by posting four saves and recording a complete game shut-out. Dockweiler was one of only two Lone Star Conference players to record a shut-out this past week and leads the LSC in goals against average (0.00) and save percentage (1.000). Midfielder Desiree Morgas put together a solid performance tallying a game-high seven shots. Morgas’ seven shots per game is the highest average of all LSC competitors.
Scouting the Grizzlies
The Grizzlies kicked off the 2019 season with a victory, snapping their 11-game losing streak after finishing the 2018 campaign with a 2-15-0 overall record. Adams State fell to the Hounds last year by a score of 2-1 as Eastern tied up the all-time series record at 4-4-0.
The Grizzlies are led by Head Coach Colin Baker, who is entering his first season at the helm of the ADAMS women’s soccer program. Baker spent the 2018 season as an assistant coach for both the men’s and the women’s teams. Prior to his tenure with the Grizzlies, Baker had coaching stints at Southwestern College, Great Falls College-Montana State University, and Carol College.
The Grizzlies frontline attack is led by junior forward Diana Cerillo who finished last season with 13 points on five goals and three assists as she was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention. Junior goalkeeper Corri Zaiger will serve as the final line of defense for the Grizzlies. Zaiger started all 17 games in the net a season ago and totaled a 127 saves on a .709 save percentage.
Tied for the team lead in minutes played with 90 is sophomore defender and midfielder Rachel Boyle. Boyle appeared in all 17 games in 2018 and made eight starts, totaling 1,018 minutes and an assist. Adams State was predicted to finish 12th in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after earning 35 total points, 13 more the New Mexico Highlands and 21 less than Western Colorado.
Scouting the Skyhawks
The Skyhawks enter the 2019 campaign after posting a 6-9-2 overall record and a 5-7-1 mark in RMAC play last season. Head Coach Damien Clarke begins his ninth season and holds the most all-time wins in Fort Lewis College women’s soccer history. Clarke has led the Skyhawks to a 113-41-19 record and a Central Region Championship in 2010. Clarke returned to Durango, Colo. from NCAA Division II Midwestern State University where he spent the past four years as head coach of the Mustangs. In four seasons, Clarke collected a 40-27-13 record, including two trips to the NCAA South Regional Championship, and the 2016 Lone Star Conference championship title.
Fort Lewis returns All-RMAC First Team selection and two-time RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award winner Katie Smith. The sophomore will switch to the midfield this season after leading the squad with 1,562 minutes played and tied for the second most goals scored with three in 2018.
Another key returner for the Skyhawks is senior midfielder Emma Patron who has logged 154 minutes and a paif of assists in FLC’s two games this season. Goalkeeper Britt Blomso returns for her senior season after posting a 5-5-2 record, totaling 52 saves with a .765 save percentage in 2018. Blomso has recorded seven saves in the Skyhawks first two outings and ranks sixth in the Conference.
Through the first two games, Fort Lewis has a -.50 point differential with three goals scored and four goals allowed. Fort Lewis College is tabbed to finish eighth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and earned 87 total points, which is nine more than Colorado Mesa and four less than CSU-Pueblo.
2019 Story Lines
The Greyhounds return several key pieces from last season’s squad, including All-LSC First Team midfielder Samantha Fabela, All-LSC Second Team defender Hayden Zuniga as well as her twin sister, Keyara, who was the team’s top goal scorer a year ago with five and Julia Tucker, an All-LSC Tournament Team performer last season.
Despite the Hounds bringing back several of their top contributors from a season ago, ENMU has 19 new players that have joined the 2019 squad, including seven transfers and 12 high school signees.
Eastern is a part of a new-look LSC that has doubled in size from a year ago, expanding from seven teams to 14 teams with the top seven teams receiving bids to the conference tournament in November.
Good Company
Twin sisters Keyara and Hayden Zuniga have been crucial pieces of the 2017 and 2018 squads and have logged 3,554 and 3,551 career minutes played, respectively. With both averaging more than 1,700 minutes a season, the twins are on pace to reach the all-time record books in just their third season. Victoria Perez sits at No. 10 on the list and played 4,824 minutes from 2011-14.
Fresh Faces
The Hounds saw many new faces contribute in their season opening win highlighted by junior transfer Whitney Dockweiler and freshman defender Kinsie Mitchell as each played the entirety of the match.
In total, 15 players made their ENMU debuts last week which included 11 freshman and four transfers.
Schedule Outlook
The Hounds will wrap up non-conference play next week with a match at Southern Nazarene on Sept. 21.
Following the completion of non-conference action, Eastern will open a revamped LSC schedule with a road match against rival West Texas A&M on Sept. 27. The last time Eastern took on the Lady Buffs in Canyon, the Hounds toppled the Lady Buffs 1-0 in a LSC Tournament Semifinal upset last season.
The Greyhounds will return home the following week for their first LSC home matches of the regular season as the Hounds will take on conference newcomer UT Tyler on Oct. 3 before tackling Texas A&M-Commerce on Oct. 5.
Eastern will wrap up its regular season home slate with a Halloween match against Oklahoma Christian before playing Midwestern State for Senior Day on Nov. 2. The Hounds will close out the regular season on the road with matches at UT Permian Basin on Nov. 7 and Lubbock Christian on Nov. 9.
Preseason Polls
The Eastern New Mexico women’s soccer team has been selected to finish eighth in the 2019 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll despite victories over two nationally ranked opponents in the 2018 postseason tournament and a berth in the LSC Championship Game.
West Texas A&M was picked to win a second-straight Lone Star Conference title following a 15-4-3 season in 2018. WT captured 18 of 32 first place votes and earned 426 points in the poll. The Lady Buffs won the South Central Regional Championship before falling to UC San Diego 5-0 in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals.
LSC newcomer DBU was tabbed to finish second, receiving eight first place votes and 404 total points. DBU finished with a 13-5-5 overall record.
Hounds at Home
Eastern New Mexico posted a home record of 4-3-2 last season with wins over Texas Woman’s and UT-Permian Basin.
The Hounds shut opponents out four separate occasions inside Greyhound Stadium and forced back to back 0-0 ties against West Texas A&M and Midwestern State to spark their late season push into the playoffs.
